Vengeance, Amour et Trahison
by newyork24-7
Summary: A case from the past comes back to haunt Agent Gibbs and Diretor Sheppard.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Ok I know I said I was taking a break and I had fully intended to but then this story jumped into my head and I had to write it. At first I was going to write a revenge tale involving Kyle Boon, the serial killer from early in season 3. But I was thinking about Judgement Day and this was the result, hopefully all will start to become clear when you read. I don't know how frequent my updates will be and I refuse to guess.**

**The title is french for Revenge, Love and Betrayal**

**I don't own NCIS or any of the character's**

* * *

Paris 1999

The park was quiet, something he was glad of, after all he had came here for silence, for the chance to get his head together. He sat down on the park bench and looked around, the cool breeze that fluttered through the air ruffled the bare branches of the trees and the lights that were wrapped around them, giving the wide pathway an almost fairytale look.

Tilting his head up he stared up into the inky black sky and studied the sparkling silver stars that broke through the darkness. In his mind he went through all the consolations he knew and tried to find them. It was at least another hour before he had to carry out his mission and he didn't want to spend it pacing up and down his hotel room. Out here it was a lot more soothing. Part of him wondered why this bothered him so much, after all he had done it before. This time though something seemed different, something was going to happen, something bad, he just knew it.

He shook his head, being around Gibbs and his infamous 'gut' was obviously rubbing off on him, he told himself it was just nerves, after all this was big target, one he couldn't afford to screw up. They had had one of those already, Jenny had been unable to pull the trigger on her target, Svetlana, and so Gibbs had done it. He shook his head that woman had definitely gotten under the boss's skin something he had never thought possible, at least they had stopped denying the relationship although neither one would confirm it either, it had been pretty obvious how close they were and they had been for a while, even before this mission in Paris started. He had to stifle a laugh as he wondered who's bright idea it was to put them undercover as husband and wife, it just meant they didn't have to sneak in and out of each other's rooms. Decker knew that their relationship wasn't why he had helped her out though by taking out her target, in everything else the woman was a master and would no doubt get further than anyone else on the team. It wasn't even that she hadn't killed before it was just that it had always been on the spur of the moment and to save a friend and colleague, she was just unable to contemplate shooting someone in what to her was tantamount to cold blood. He had seen how it tore her up though, that she had seen it as a failure on her part, he had also heard, although he was sure that he wasn't meant too, Gibbs's words of reassurance to her. Seen the way they had leaned into one another, their foreheads almost touching as Gibbs had run a hand down her cheek while telling her that not being able to pull the trigger didn't make her a failure and at least she had told him rather than pretend she had carried through with the kill. It wasn't even worth ending her career over, the chances that she would ever have to carry out such a ruthless task again were slim to none.

Decker pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked at his watch, it was time to go, time to finish this mission. He looked once more into the peaceful sky before getting up off of the bench and walking slowly but confidently out of the park.

* * *

Calvados club was home to the elite, only the richest and most influential were allowed entry, from looking around the bar you wouldn't think that anyone in there was even remotely special, there were no famous actors or models, no one recognisable. No the people who were allowed admission were far more powerful, they were mainly ruthless businessmen and a smattering of bent politicians who used the club to carry out their deals.

The club was owned by a Nikolai Tarasov and it was one of his few legal pursuits. He and his lover Svetlana Ivanski had came to NCIS's attentions when they began selling weapons and running numerous drugs rings, smuggling both the drugs and the weapons in and out of America. Unfortunately despite months spent investigating them they had failed to get enough to arrest them, they had caught and jailed plenty of their minions but never enough to close the entire operation and so the decision had been made to make them disappear, the appropriate paperwork had been signed and now Svetlana was gone and only Nikolai remained.

The club was packed tonight but the most dangerous conversation was taking place in the darkened corner of the room behind a red velvet rope. Blowing out his cigar smoke Nikolai glared at his companions through the haze he had created and the men in his presence shrank back into their seats, averting their eyes, hoping to avoid being the subject of his wrath. He spoke in English, although his accent remained distinctly Russian,

"I want to know who was responsible"

"We are trying but the Police have no leads, they have no evidence and there were no witnesses"

His fist banged down on the table, anger flashing in his eyes as his voice sharpened and got slightly louder, although it was still quiet enough not to be overheard, "Yes! I am aware of that! Svetlana was shot and left to die in a filthy alleyway and yet no one appears to have seen anything!", Nikolai once again brought his cigar up to his mouth and inhaled deeply, not grimacing once, he exhaled again his eyes narrowed and when he spoke again his voice was calmer, "This is unacceptable, I want whoever is responsible for this, I want them to pay for what they have done, I want them found", he eyed each of the men in turn, "Do you understand me?"

They all nodded, "Yes Mr. Tarasov"

"Good", He sat back in his seat and waved his hand at them, "Go", They all obeyed his command leaving him alone with his thoughts. With his free hand he picked up his scotch and sipped at it while he scanned the club, noting that his head of security was making his way over to him, pausing at the rope. Nikolai had had security increased since Svetlana's murder and knew that they wouldn't bother him unless it was important so he nodded his consent and the man crossed the divide and knelt down next to his boss's ear,

"We scanned the perimeter hourly as per your request, there is a man hanging around the back alleyways, he's been there for at least an hour now"

Nikolai placed his glass down on the table, he knew what this was, whoever had killed Svetlana was after him, he met the man's eye as he told him, "You know what to do, I'll be there in an hour or so"

* * *

Decker circled the area again, he knew the likelihood of Nikolai leaving the Club before close was unlikely but he knew he had to be here just in case. The thumping music from the club drowned out any noise, which is why Decker didn't hear the footsteps behind him, in fact he wasn't even aware he was no longer alone until at least four strong hands restrained him and a rag was placed over his mouth causing everything to go black.

* * *

When Decker blinked his eyes open he found himself tied to a chair in what looked like a darkened store room, he pulled slightly on the bonds, relieved when he found them to be quite loose. A cold, heavily accented voice broke through the silence, "I wouldn't bother trying to escape, my security have the place heavily guarded and you do not have a weapon. I do however have a weapon, your's to be precise, so if I were you I would stay put."

Decker frowned slightly, "Why because you don't like a moving target?"

The darkened figure moved into the stream of moonlight that was flowing through the upper window and Decker's heart sank when he saw Nikolai Tarasov standing in front of him. The man let out a low chuckle, "No Agent Decker you misunderstand my intentions, I want you to stay put so we can talk, I have something to discuss with you"

"Really", He tried to keep the fear out of his voice, "What is it?"

Nikolai paced the floor in front of him, "As I'm sure you are aware my partner Svetlana was brutally murdered last week and obviously I would like some retribution for what happened to her. Now I find it a bit of a coincidence that less than a week after her death an American Navy cop is found wandering around the back of my club carrying a gun. So tell me who was responsible for her death?"

"What makes you think I wasn't the one who was responsible"

He shrugged, "Call it instinct but regardless I want a name"

"Yeah well you're going to be sorely disappointed, you may as well just shoot me now"

Nikolai laughed again, "Oh no I will not be so merciful, if you refuse to cooperate your death will be slow and painful", He leaned into Decker's face, "You will beg for death and still I will not grant it."

Decker couldn't help it, his breathing and heart rate increased as fear coursed through his veins, Nikolai of coursed picked up on it and grinned maliciously, "I think you may be ready to negotiate."

"No", He silently cursed himself when his voice cracked in fear.

"You know William", He took in the man's startled expression, "Sorry I thought if we were going to do this we should be on first name terms. Anyway as I was saying I can be very reasonable in my negotiation's and I am more than willing to make up for any inconvenience this may cause, after all everyone has a price"

'Well I don't'

"Let's get to the point, give me a name and I will not only let you go I will also pay you three million in your American dollars"

Decker blinked rapidly at this offer, he wanted to turn it down but the words wouldn't come out. The truth was he didn't want to die, especially not at the hands of this monster, he knew it wouldn't be quick or painless, more like the complete opposite. Also he hadn't been happy in his job for a while now and he didn't see why he should have to die for it. He swallowed heavily before asking, "What are you going to do with the name?"

"If I were you I wouldn't concern yourself with those minor details, come on William all you need to do is give me a name and all your troubles are gone"

Looking away from the man's steely gaze Decker choked out, "Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs"

On hearing the name Nikolai actually looked slightly surprised, "I thought it would've been a woman"

Now that he had started to talk Decker found that he couldn't stop, "It was meant to be Agent Jennifer Sheppard but she couldn't go through with it, since Gibbs is the team leader he dealt with it."

"Why did he not make her follow through?"

"They're involved, he loves her and making her go through with the killing would have hurt her"

Nikolai let out a bitter laugh, "Yes we do tend to do foolish things for the ones we love. Well Agent Decker I have what I need, I will leave the building and in five minutes my security will come in and let you leave. I will see the money is transferred into your account in a month's time, that way you will be free and clear of this mission"

"What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you completed the mission as required, tomorrow a news broadcast will announce that I was murdered while leaving my club last night. Don't worry they'll never discover your betrayal"

As he watched the man get up to leave Decker felt his conscience twinge and he called after them, "You won't hurt them? Will you?"

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies"

* * *

On being released Decker headed straight back to the hotel, wanting nothing more than to get into the shower and try to rinse himself clean, try to absolve himself. His heart sank when he entered into the hotel foyer and saw Jenny and Gibbs sitting on one of the sofas, obviously waiting for him. Needing a moment to collect himself Decker ducked behind a pillar so they couldn't see him, taking deep breaths he watched them together. Their guard was obviously down and they looked every inch the happy couple, Gibbs had an arm around Jenny, pulling her into his side while her hand rested on his thigh as she leaned into his ear, whispering something into it causing him to laugh. Jenny blushed slightly as he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

Decker could feel himself shaking, he had all but signed their death warrants, they were his team, his friends and he had sacrificed them to save his own skin. It was too late to go back now though, he had made his decision and he couldn't stop the wheels that had been put into motion. Taking deep breaths he stepped out of his hiding place and made his way over to them. It was Jenny who noticed him first, she flashed him one of her brilliant smiles as she let her hand discretely slip away from it's place on Gibbs's leg,

"Did everything go ok?"

"Yeah, went off without a hitch"

He saw Gibbs's eyes narrow as he observed him, he took his arm from around Jenny's shoulders and leaned forward as he asked, "You feeling ok?"

"Fine, just you know what it's like, I just need a drink and some time alone"

Gibbs nodded, "Fair enough, we can do the debrief in the morning then, I'll let you rest"

Jenny shot him a look of concern, "Are you sure you don't want company? You should join us for a drink"

"No", Decker shook his head, "Thanks for asking though Jenny but I think I'll leave you two alone, don't fancy being the third wheel", he shot them a small grin.

Raising an eyebrow and letting a small smile play across her face Jenny replied, "I have no idea what you are talking about Will"

Gibbs took a sip of the bourbon he had placed on the table in front of them and glared at him over the glass, the warning rife in his voice as he growled, "Decker…"

"Sorry boss, I'll be going now, you two enjoy your night", He turned and walked away, trying to push away the feeling of guilt that was bubbling away inside of him.

* * *

The next day the paper's were rife with the news that well known business man Nikolai Tarasov had been shot dead while leaving his club Calvados late last night. Police believed that his murder was connected to that of his lover's death less than a week ago but at present there were no leads. In the next few days Nikolai's business ventures began to wind down as there was no one left to take control. As the mission neared it's end Decker handed in his resignation, this move didn't surprise anyone as they knew he had been thinking about it for a while, so no one was suspicious of his motives.

Gibbs and Jenny remained in Paris on another mission, neither one aware that this was to be the last one they undertook together as partners.

The years passed and Decker began to believe that Nikolai was never going to seek his revenge and eventually the guilt subsided and he forgot all about his deal with the devil and just enjoyed his new found riches.

* * *

**So loved it, hated it let me know :)**

**xxxx**

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you to Ellie for all her help with this chapter :)_

_I still own nothing._

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* * *

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Present Day

Kicking off of his running shoes Decker made his way into the kitchen, he stood a moment in the doorway watching his girlfriend Sasha singing along to the radio, wiggling her hips in time to the music. It was times like these that he knew he was a lucky guy, he had enough money that he didn't have to work and he had a hot young girlfriend.

Clearing his throat she jumped and swung round grinning when she saw him, "How was your run?"

"It was good, managed two miles", He patted his stomach, "Need to get in shape, I don't want to look like one of those pervy old men when we go out"

She grimaced, "Oh too late", Before bursting into peels of laughter and wrapping her arms around his neck kissing him deeply.

He pulled back slightly, keeping his arms around her waist, "So what are you doing today?"

"Thought I'd get my hair done, I have an audition this afternoon and I want to look good"

"You already look good"

Sasha sighed as she pulled away from him, "It's not enough, if I want to get ahead I have to be more"

He frowned slightly, "Well I think you're more than enough"

"You need to stop the cheesy lines old man"

"Isn't that one of the reasons you love me"

Sasha didn't reply just quirked her eyebrow at him before downing the rest of her fruit smoothie, she glanced at her watch, "Oh damn I'm running late", she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, "Have a good day and no more running, you look exhausted you're doing too much too fast"

"I'm fine"

"Uh huh so you say, well I'll see you when I get back", she kissed him on his cheek, "In fact maybe when I get back we can have our own workout session"

Decker grinned at her, "That sounds like a plan" and then blatantly checked her out as she left the room.

* * *

About an hour later, showered and changed, Decker walked into his kitchen - only to find a man helping himself to a beer from his fridge. The tall dark haired man gave him a polite smile as he lowered the bottle from his lips.

"Your taste in beer is a disgrace" he said distastefully. "I expected more from a man with your means."

Decker felt beads of perspiration pop up on his forehead at the sight of Nikolai Tarasov standing a few feet a way from him. He forced himself to smile as he forced out, "Didn't know you'd be dropping in, Nikolai."

"Actually it's Viggo Dratnyev now. After all, you and I both know that Nikolai Tarasov died almost ten years ago.'

He flashed him a dangerous smile that showed off his pearly white teeth, and Decker's smile faltered.

Nikolai looked around him as he walked into the living area and sat down. "No need to look so nervous William. Nice place you have here by the way. It's good to see you put my investment to good use."

"Why are you here?"

Leaning back in his seat Nicolai replied, "We need to catch up."

Feeling terrified now, Decker headed over to his drink's cabinet and poured himself a glass of Scotch. When he had his nerves under control he asked "Would you like something stronger?"

"No thank you. I won't be staying long."

'Right", Decker sat down across from him and took a sip of his drink, and Nikolai eyed him before speaking again.

"Although I would like some water to remove the taste of this ... bilge water."

"Fine."

Feeling overly flustered he got up from his seat and headed into the kitchen. Using this opportunity, Nikolai reached into his coat pocket and brought out the small amount of water that contained the large amount of Ribavirin he had crushed into it and poured it into the scotch before sitting back and relaxing again. Walking back into the room Decker handed the glass of water, picked up his scotch, and began to pace the floor. He glanced over at the man on his sofa. He looked completely at ease and not remotely uncomfortable, Decker downed his Scotch, grimacing slightly at the overly bitter taste. Wiping at his mouth he placed the glass back down again, and feeling slightly braver he asked, "So you wanted to catch up?"

"I was just wondering how you've been the past nine years."

"Fine."

"Just fine? You disappoint me, William."

"Why are you really here?"

"I'm here to tell you that your time is up."

Decker stopped pacing and turned to face him, his voice hoarse when he asked, "What?"

Nikolai's smile faded and his eyes went cold, 'I gave you nine years. One for each of the years I enjoyed with Svetlana. I could have killed you right after obtaining the information I wanted, but I didn't. Under the circumstances I would say I was more than generous. Now the time has ... "

Decker tried to focus on what Nikolai was saying, but it was becoming more and more difficult. His vision was swimming and he had shooting pains traveling up and down his arm. His chest felt like someone had wrapped a vise around it, and his mouth was dry as he forced out "You kill me and they'll come after you."

Nikolai laughed. "You are about to suffer a heart attack, William', he said as got up from his seat. "You should be grateful. Unlike theirs, your death will be quick. Now all I have to do is wait."

Decker fell to his knees as the pain in his chest magnified. Everything began to merge together and the last thing he saw before his world went black, was Nikolai standing over him grinning cruelly.

* * *

Walking into her office Jenny shrugged off her coat and hung it up before placing her bag in its usual spot. She stepped back and surveyed her office. During the weeks she had been away nothing had changed; something she was infinitely grateful for. Her work grounded her and gave her something solid in her life, and that was something she needed right now. Especially when the rest of her life was all over the place..

Sighing slightly Jenny moved over to her desk and took a moment to flick through the case reports that were awaiting her signature. Thankfully there weren't too many. That was one thing she hated about taking time off, having to play catch up when she got back. It was why she never usually bothered with holidays, but this time she'd felt she'd needed it. With all that had happened in the last few months, with La Grenouille and her health scare, she had needed some time to gather her thoughts. But now she was back in control. Just the way she liked it.

Sitting down at her desk she picked up the report that was sitting on the top of the pile and began methodically working through it. Just over an hour later she was done. Jenny sat back in her chair and rubbed at her eyes. She hated paperwork, and although she was aware that it was a necessary evil of her job that didn't make it any more enjoyable. Bracing her hands on the edge of her desk she pushed her chair back slightly and stood up stretching her arms out slightly and rolling her neck, wincing at all the cracks it emitted. She was just about to leave her office and head to MTAC to check on the different missions they had running when the buzz of her intercom broke through the stifling silence of her office and her assistant's voice floated into the room.

"Director Shepard, there's someone for you on line one"

Leaning over Jenny hit the reply button, "Thank you Cynthia just put the call through.." She waited for it to ring once before picking it up, and looking out the window she listened to what the solemn voice on the other end was telling her.

A few minutes later Jenny was still sitting in her chair.. Only now she wasn't really taking in the view, she was too busy reliving the memories of her past. The door to her office flew open, something that she was so used to now that she didn't even react. She just spun her chair around so she faced the man standing in front of her desk. He sighed impatiently at her.

"Want to tell me why you called me up here Jen?"

She eyed him over the rim of her glasses for a second before finally speaking, "I just got news that William Decker died of a heart attack yesterday. The funeral's on Thursday in L.A. I thought you should know."

For a brief second Jenny saw the shock and sadness that briefly flittered across Gibbs's eyes. That flash disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and he was back in control. He nodded briefly his eyes suddenly fixed on the window behind her as he spoke.

"When are we flying out?"

"I will be flying out Wednesday afternoon, I've decided that Tony and Ziva will accompany me as my detail."

"Excuse me?"

"This isn't a discussion Jethro. Someone needs to keep an eye on agency, and that someone will be you."

"I'm going with you, Jenny."

Jenny let out a brief sigh and resisted the urge to rub at her forehead in frustration before pulling herself up out of her chair and up to her full height..

"No Agent Gibbs you won't be. I've given you my orders and I expect you to follow them. Preferably without complaint.."

Gibbs sent one of his famous glares in her direction but it didn't work. It never had with her, so instead he shot out "Pulling rank on me Director? And taking _my_ team?"

"You can look at it anyway you want Agent Gibbs, it won't change the outcome."

"I knew Will a lot longer than you did, if any one of us should be going it's me."

Folding her arms across her chest Jenny narrowed her eyes at him,"The decision has already been made. Now you can stand here and argue with me or you can go and brief Tony and Ziva. I suggest, for the sake of your health, that you choose the latter."

When Gibbs continued to stare she added, "Your team is currently the only one without an active case and since you will be Acting Director it is likely to stay that way. So it makes sense to give them something to do. As for your remark about them being your team you seem to forget your place Agent Gibbs, I am Director of this Agency and as a result I can redirect Agents in anyway I see fit. I certainly don't need your permission to do so."

For a moment they stood in silence, both glaring at each other; neither one willing to back down. Finally Gibbs realised this was a fight he wasn't going to win and shot her one last glare before storming out of her office. Jenny stood a few seconds longer waiting for him to slam the outer door as well. Wincing slightly when he did so. She reached into her drawer and pulled out some paracetamol, gulping them down without the aid of any water. The damn man had given her migraine.

* * *

**xxxx**


	3. Chapter 3

Tony sighed and rocked forward on his feet slightly as he pulled on his collar trying to relieve the discomfort he was feeling as the hot June sun beat down on his back. The outfit was definitely the worst part of protection detail, although the mind numbing monotony came a very close second.

Ziva was evidently feeling the same way as she looked over at him and rolling her eyes asked, "Why are we here?"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes back at her, he replied, "You know why. The Director has to have a detail of at least two Agents with her when she makes a public appearance"

Ziva let what sounded like a small growl escape her lips, her tone was scathing as she forced out, "I'm aware of the protocol Tony, what I meant was why us? Why not take her usual detail?"

"Gibbs already told us why, he is going to be playing the part of Acting Director while she's in L.A. which leaves our team an Agent down so to keep us busy we got sent here", Tony shrugged, "Anyway it's not that bad", he shot her a grin, "We are getting a free trip to L.A."

"It's hardly a holiday, we are here to make sure that the Director stays out of trouble"

"How much trouble can she actually get into? It's a funeral!"

Ziva quirked her eyebrow at Tony, "I don't think you really want me to answer that"

For a moment Tony just looked at her thoughtfully before sighing, "No you're right I probably don't", He sighed again, "I still think this isn't the worst job to get landed with"

"Hmmm"

"I'm kinda surprised Gibbs isn't here. Didn't he work with this Decker guy as well?"

"You know why he isn't here. The Director ordered him to stay behind."

"Yeah of course", Tony craned his neck to look around the crowd of mourners, "He did quite well for himself didn't he?"

Ziva frowned at the statement, "Who? Gibbs?"

"No! Decker." This time Tony didn't suppress the urge to roll his eyes before continuing, "I mean did you see the girlfriend? She's twenty two! That's less than half his age!"

"I see you've finally learned basic math's then", Ziva stated, she turned slightly to look over at the bewildered looking blonde examining her for a second before sniffing, "She was with him for the money, nothing else"

"Ziva if you manage pull a girl like that you don't care why she's with you, you just thank God and keep paying the bills"

"You're such a romantic"

Tony grinned, "No I'm a realist. Still apart from the whole heart attack thing Decker was one lucky guy, I mean what are the chances of winning the lottery the week after leaving your job?"

Ziva didn't reply, instead she just looked over to where Jenny was currently addressing the local press, she frowned slightly something here simply didn't feel right.

Jenny could feel Ziva's eyes boring into her back as she gave her statement to the journalists standing outside the small funeral home. As she spoke her mind remained slightly unfocused and she didn't really listen to what she was saying. She didn't really need to anymore anyway. She had made this same statement so many times that she knew it off by heart. She felt like a fraud for standing there giving such rehearsed speech, after all Decker wasn't just another dead Agent, she had worked closely with him, had regarded him as a friend and here she was giving the usual spiel. Part of her wondered when she had became so false, sometimes she felt like she was just another cog in a massive machine, as though she wasn't really a person at all.

Regardless of her personal feelings Jenny finished her speech and inclined her head at the journalists slightly to indicate she had finished talking, as they turned off their recorders she turned and walked away, she had meant to head over to where Tony and Ziva were impatiently standing, waiting for her but something, or rather someone, caught her eye. Over by the book where people wrote their condolences was a rather familiar looking man, he was tall with dark hair that was now peppered with strands of gray, his eyes were hidden by a pair of expensive sunglasses but still he looked so familiar that Jenny's heart seemed to stop for a moment. She shook her head slightly, it couldn't possibly be him, he was dead and had been for a number of years this was just a reaction to Will's death, she was projecting her memories of the past onto the present nothing more.

Once again Jenny went to walk away and once again she was stopped, this time though it was by a tearful young blonde who she instantly recognized as Will's young girlfriend Sasha. The blonde looked at her for a second before taking a deep breath and asking, "Are you Jennifer Sheppard?"

Jenny, slightly perturbed by this question and wondering where it was leading nodded, "Yes I am"

Sasha bit down on her bottom lip, "I….I have a message for you from Will, he said that if anything ever happened to him I was to pass on a message."

For once Jenny was infinitely glad she was wearing sunglasses that hid the fact her eyes had widened in surprise at that statement, she waited for a moment for the younger woman to continue, "He said that I was to let you know that Mr. Oshimida is looking for you", Sasha was so caught up in her own grief and was so determined to finish the task in hand that she missed the fact that the redhead had paled considerably and continued with her message, "He also said he had left you an insurance policy and I was to pass it onto you but I wasn't sure if you'd be here so it's still back at the house. The wake is at Will's sister so I'll be there for most of the afternoon but you're welcome to come round later and pick it up."

Jenny nodded again, her mind whirring, she placed a gentle hand on Sasha's arm and smiled gently, "I'll do that. And I just want to say how sorry I am for your loss, if there is anything NCIS can do…"

Sasha shook her head slowly "No there isn't anything anyone can do", she looked over to where the rest of Decker's family were standing and gave Jenny a watery smile, "I'll see you later, I have to go"

Jenny watched her leave and then scanned the remaining people in the crowd, she hadn't just been reliving the past earlier, she really had seen Nikolai Tarasov, she swallowed heavily she truly hadn't thought it had been possible, after all the man was supposed to have died nine years ago at Decker's hand and Decker had been a pro so she couldn't understand what had went wrong. Her eyes paused as she spotted him again, this time he was heading towards a dark coloured SUV, his attention was obviously elsewhere as he spoke into his cell phone, she pulled out her own phone and quickly snapped a couple of pictures making a mental note to send them off to Abby as soon as she was out of here.

She watched the car drive off and then she finally headed over to where her temporary detail were standing. Ziva of course spotted her first and gave her a cursory nod, "Are you ready to go Director?"

"I'm afraid there has been a slight change of plan, I have some paperwork that needs to be finished, so I'm going to head back to the hotel. It seems pointless for you two to have to suffer through it as well so take the rest of the trip off and enjoy yourselves", Jenny smiled, "After all you work hard enough and it isn't often you get to escape Gibbs's clutches, I'll meet you both in reception tomorrow evening in time for our flights."

Ziva frowned, "Director I don't feel that….."

She was cut off mid sentence by Tony who grinned, "Thanks Director, I've always wanted to see L.A. although quick question how are you getting back to the hotel?"

Jenny shot him a look of disbelief, "I'm taking the rental car that's in my name"

"Oh!", Tony's gaze flittered over to where their sole vehicle was sitting and dug the keys out of his pocket, "Of course you are but how are we going to….", he trailed off as Jenny snatched the keys and strolled of in the direction of the car. Tony waited until she was out of earshot before grinning and speaking again, "Sorry Ziva it looks like I'm going to have to cut you loose, can't have you cramping my style while I live it large in….", he turned around mid sentence to see Ziva was already about two hundred yards away and wasn't paying any attention to him. Feeling slightly put out Tony ran after her yelling, "Hey wait up!"

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**xxxx**


	4. Chapter 4

Checking her rear view mirror, Jenny pulled into the side of the road. She pulled out her cell and hit the fourth speed dial number; tapping her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as she waited for someone to pick up. The phone was picked up on the fifth ring and a bright and cheery voice almost sang over the line, "Talk to me."

"Abby…"

"Director! It's good to hear from you. How's L.A?"

"It's fine. Abby, I'm going to send over some photos and I need an ID asap."

"Okay, I can do that. Am I allowed to ask why?"

"No. In fact Abby I would prefer it if we kept this between us."

"Oh…"

Jenny frowned slightly as she heard the hesitation in the younger woman's voice, "Abby what is it?"

"Um it's just that McGee's here and I was on speaker phone….", Abby tailed off.

Sighing, Jenny rubbed at her forehead. "It's fine just keep it between the two of you and I mean that. I don't want anyone knowing you ran these photos."

"Ok I'll do it on the down low."

Jenny could hear the grin in Abby's voice, but simply wasn't in the mood. She shook her head, and determined to end the phone call just said, "Thank you Abby. Call me when you have an I.D. I don't want to be disturbed for any other reason", and without waiting for a reply she ended the call and set to work sending the photo's. Once that had been done she stared at her cell phone for a second and took a deep breath as she mentally prepared herself for the next phone call.

* * *

Abby frowned at McGee as the line went dead.

"Is it just me or was the Director kind of off today?"

McGee shrugged, not even looking up from scribbling a curly moustache on the broom version of Dinozzo.

"She's stuck in L.A. with Tony who is no doubt quoting countless movies right about now. If I were her I'd be sounding pretty annoyed as well."

Slapping his hand away so the marker fell to the floor, Abby yelled, "Hey! I didn't say you could do that."

"What! I think it suits him!"

Abby sighed and tapped her foot on the floor in the manner of an irritated school teacher, "McGee can we please get back to the matter at hand?"

"Which is?"

"The photos the Director wants us to run, will be here any second now", The minute she had finished talking the computer beeped, signaling the arrival of the photos. Abby swung around and got to work on trying to identify the man on the screen. "Our Director may be a woman of many talents, but photography is definitely not one of them. She didn't manage to get one of this guy's face."

"She was probably trying to be discrete."

"Yeah well being discrete is one thing but there's no way I'm going to be able to get an I.D. from this lot."

McGee stood up and examined the photo's that were blown up on the screen, he gestured at the cell phone the man in the pictures was talking into, "You could always trace the call"

"What?", Abby stopped her pacing and looked at the photo.

"If we trace all the communication towers in the area and using the co-ordinates of the funeral home we can…"

"Get the details of the cell phone and find out the details of the owner!" She threw her arms around the young Agent, "Oh McGee you're a genius!"

* * *

Several hours later Jenny pulled into the dusty car park in front of a run down motel and jumped out of her car. Slamming the door shut she hit the button on the keys to lock the car and quickly surveyed her surroundings. That was when she saw him leaning against the drinks machine watching her. Walking towards him she pushed her sunglasses up onto her forehead, "Glad you could make it."

"You said it was important and I got curious, it better be damn important if I had to get on the first plane from Mexico."

Franks uncrossed his arms and dug his hands into his pockets, rummaging through them for a few minutes before pulling out a room key, "I got a room, that way you can tell me the story in peace and then if it's actually something I want to be a part of I have a place to stay."

Jenny nodded, her eyes still scanning the area, "Fine let's go", She followed him along the pathway and into the darkened motel room, wrinkling her nose at the shabby décor and questionable odor. "Well this is…….", She trailed off not quite sure how to finish that statement and settled for running a finger along the window ledge and grimacing at the dirt that now covered her finger.

Franks couldn't help but grin at the redhead's reaction, "Pension doesn't stretch far enough to cover the Ritz."

"You forget I know how much you get a month and you could afford better than this."

"Prefer to spend my money on the more important things in life."

Having said that he pulled a rolled up cigarette out of his pocket and, lighting it, inhaled deeply before using it to gesture at Jenny, "Want to tell me why I had to come running over here?"

Jenny gave him a curt nod and brushing past him sat down at the small table. Having decided that the wooden chair was a safer bet than the badly stained sofa, she crossed her legs and brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ears looked up at him, gesturing that he should sit across from her. After an awkward pause he complied, she looked up at him.

"Ever work with an Agent William Decker?"

"He signed on the year I left. Never got the chance. What's he been up to?"

"He's dead….and I'm next."

Inhaling deeply Franks looked her over, "You sure about that?"

"Wouldn't be going to all this trouble if I wasn't. I need to investigate this myself and I need back up."

Franks shrugged, "You have an entire Agency at your disposal. Why not use it?"

"This has to be outside the Agency and I need someone I can trust. You're on the shortlist"

Grinning Franks replied, "Didn't know you were a fan"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Gibbs's shortlist. He trusts you with his life. That's good enough for me."

"It might be good enough for you but I want to know the details before I sign on the dotted line."

"About nine years back I was involved in a case looking into a Russian weapons ring. We thought we had closed the case and got out clean, but recent events seem to show that I thought wrong."

"What happened?"

"William Decker was one of the Agents on the case. He dropped dead of a heart attack at the beginning of the week."

"Happens."

"It does, but at the funeral I saw someone who I thought died nine years ago. And Decker left me a message. I don't think we got out as clean as I first thought."

"This guy you saw .. friend or foe?"

"You think I'd have called you in if he was a friendly face?"

Franks shook his head, "No,suppose not. So who is he and what was this mission?"

Jenny's eyes narrowed, "Need to know"

"If you want me involved you're going to have to read me in"

Jenny pursed her lips and looked down at the table, staying resolutely silent. Franks gave an irate sigh and pushed himself up from his chair, "Look if you're not willing to tell me the full story then I'm not going to risk my neck getting involved in your mess!"

He was halfway to the door when her soft voice stopped him, "Wait."

He turned around expecting her to start talking, but instead she continued to stare out of the window.

Franks frowned and snapped, "If I turn to leave again I won't be coming back!"

"The op took place in Paris. We had clearance to take out the two main players. I was meant to take out one, Decker the other. I couldn't go through with my kill and another Agent had to do it. We trusted Decker to complete his side. The target was a well known figure and when the death was announced the next day it looked as though he had completed the mission, so we got the hell out of dodge. Today I saw the man Decker was supposed to take out at his funeral. A Nikolai Tarasov. I've sent the photos in to get an I.D.,but it's him. I know it. At the funeral Decker's girlfriend told me that William said that if anything unusual ever happened to him she was to tell me that Mr. Oshimida might be looking for me", She looked up into Frank's thoughtful expression. "Mr. Oshimida was our code name to be used if our covers were ever compromised, I don't think Decker ever carried through his kill and that means that me and this other Agent are next on the hit list."

Franks ran a hand over his chin and nodded thoughtfully, "Who's the other Agent?"

Jenny averted her gaze from his as she whispered, "Gibbs."

At that Franks straightened, "So what next?"

"We wait for Abby to get in touch with an I.D. Once she does we head over to Decker's place. Apparently he left me an insurance policy of some sort. Hopefully it will help us find this guy"

"And when we find him…..."

Jenny turned to face him again and looked him dead in the eye.

"It will be just the way you like it, no paperwork."

* * *

**xxxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wanted to take the chance to thank you for all your reviews so far. Starting from here the story will start to differ more from the episode.**

* * *

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Tony made his way over to Ziva's sun lounger; letting his eyes roam appreciatively over the shapely form which was currently clad in only a skimpy green bikini. As he approached her he brought his camera up to his face and snapped a couple of pictures, for posterity's sake of course, and continued to smile to himself.

Ziva didn't even go to the effort of looking up from her book. She could sense Tony leaning over her, staring. She shifted further onto her side as she told him, "You're googling again."

"It's ogling! Anyway what you reading there Zee-vah?"

"Something that is commonly known as a book."

"Oh how McGeeish of you."

He leaned even further forward to grab the book out of her hands, but she jerked it away, and glared up at him.

"If you value that hand then I suggest you back away, slowly."

Tony let out an over exaggerated sigh and sat down on the edge of the lounger, "Zee-vaaah I'm bored."

"I don't care."

"Can we please go do something? I mean come on, we're in L.A. We should be out seeing the sights."

"Well you go see the sights then and let me read in peace."

"Don't want to go alone", Tony whined as he shuffled his feet, "Come on the Director gave us the day off."

"Yes and she could quite easily change her mind and order us back on duty, so we should stay close to base."

Tony rolled his eyes. "We do have cell phones, if she needs us all she has to do is call. Come on it'll be fun."

Ziva let out a groan of frustration and slamming her book shut sat up straight, "Fine we'll go out but after this you have to agree to leave me alone!"

"Deal", Tony jumped to his feet, "Come on we can cruise down Sunset Boulevard and it'll be just like Against all Odds"

"I'm sure it will. One minor problem though, Tony. We do not have a car."

Peering over the rim of his sunglasses Tony waggled his eyebrows at Ziva and then practically bounced off, back in the direction of the hotel. Ziva narrowed her eyes as she watched him go. She had a feeling that today was going to be a living nightmare; that she was sure of.

* * *

Leaning back in her chair Jenny sat in silence and watched Mike shuffle a deck of cards, his rolled up cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. He looked up at her, "You play poker?"

"I can but I'm not very good, why?"

"Well we have nothing else to do while we wait for this Abby girl to get back to us, thought a game of strip poker would pass the time."

He raised an eyebrow at her, and Jenny couldn't help but laugh as she shook her head.

"I think I'll pass."

"My loss."

He continued to shuffle the cards and Jenny leaned back in her chair. She hated waiting but she didn't want to go searching for Decker's insurance policy until she knew all the details she could possibly get on Nikolai and why he was here. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she actually jumped slightly when her phone rang, the shrill ringing cutting through the fogginess inside her own brain. Avoiding Mike's watchful gaze she hit the answer button on her phone.

"Shepard"

Abby's cheerful voice floated over the line, "Hey Director, I have an I.D. on the John Doe you sent me. We traced him using the details on the cell phone he was talking into when you took the photos, it was actually McGee's idea so he deserves all the….."

"Abby can you please just get to the point."

"Oh right of course, sorry. The phone is registered to a Viggo Dratnyev, he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday on a flight from Moscow."

"Do we know why he's here and what he was doing before that?"

"Well that's the strange thing. This Viggo guy didn't seem to exist until nine years ago. He appears to be a business man of sorts. Has an import and export business, what he's actually shipping in and out is a bit of a mystery though. Although what I can tell you is that this business just seemed to appear overnight. He's made quite a bit of money from it though, he seems to be very influential. We have no more information on him apart from this and absolutely nothing dating from before 1999. As for why he's here I honestly don't know."

"Anything else Abby?"

"No….sorry."

"It's fine, thank you Abby, now I need you to delete those photos and forget everything you've just seen and heard. This conversation never took place, understood?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Jenny couldn't help but smile slightly as the image of Abby saluting the phone popped into her head. She didn't reply though, just ended the phone call. She threw the phone back into her bag and ran a hand through her hair

Mike stubbed out his cigarette as she looked at him.

"Well?"

"Looks like Nikolai is now going by the name of Viggo Dratnyev, he landed here on Sunday"

"So this Viggo guy strolls into town and just a few hours later your boy Decker's dead, he really does have a score to settle. Wanna tell me why?"

"Could be because the other target we took out was his girlfriend."

"So he's out to avenge her death. I hate it when they do that, they never get the closure they think they will."

"Looks like he's willing to try."

"Hmmm", Mike got to his feet and shoving his hands in his jacket pockets headed towards the door, "So where to next, I'm assuming you don't want to stay here and play grab-assey?"

Jenny decided it was best to ignore the sarcastic remark and instead picked up the car keys and swung her bag over her shoulder.

"We're going to pick up that insurance policy", she said as she sashayed passed him and out the door - not once letting her concern show.

* * *

Abby let out a low thoughtful "Hmmmm" as she was left staring at the phone.

McGee looked up at her, "What is it?"

"Something hinky is going on with the Director. This isn't the first time she's asked me to run a trace under the radar."

"Really? When was the last time?"

Abby looked up, and backtracked hastily. "It's just that the last time she ran something undercover it almost got Tony killed, I just…..", Abby shook her head, "I don't know, I........sometimes she seems more of a rogue agent than Gibbs."

"She's the Director Abs, I'm sure she has her reasons."

Abby bit down nervously on her bottom lip, "Yeah…but maybe we should talk to Gibbs…see what he thinks."

"I don't think that's a good idea Abby, after all she did specifically tell us to keep this quiet."

"Yeah", Abby's hand hovered over the delete button for a second before she drew it back, her brow knitted together in deep concentration as she sat down on her stool. Leaning forward she rested her chin on her hands and examined the man on the screen, trying to figure out what about him had got the Director so rattled.

McGee let his gaze flicker between Abby and the photo's that were still on screen. She seemed engrossed in them, as though she was looking for something. Clearing his throat he tried to attract her attention, failing miserably, so he decided it night be best just to cut to the chase, "Abby I think it's time we get rid of those.."

She glanced up at him, still frowning, "Shhh McGee I'm thinking."

"The Director asked us to keep this quiet and that's not going to happen if those stay up there, I mean what is Gibbs going to say if he finds out what we've been doing?"

"What have you been doing McGee?"

McGee inwardly cringed at the deep voice behind him, he turned slowly around, "Um nothing much, just a favour for someone."

Gibbs narrowed his eyes, "A favour, for the Director?"

"Yeah…..", He turned to look pleadingly at Abby who thankfully stepped in.

"Don't worry Gibbs it was just a small favour, nothing important."

"But she asked you to keep it quiet? That doesn't sound small or unimportant."

Gibbs let his eyes travel from one to the other, watching them shift uncomfortably under his gaze. He quickly realized they weren't going to answer and so turned his attention to the screen - his heart briefly stopping when he looked at the man in the picture.

He moved forward, hoping that his eyes were deceiving him, "Where did you get these photo's?"

Knowing they had been caught and wanting to minimize the fallout McGee decided it might be best just to be honest for once, "The Director sent them, she took them at William Decker's funeral, she wanted an I.D."

"Did you get one?"

At this Abby looked affronted, "Of course we did Gibbs, how can you even ask such a thing?"

"Well then tell me."

"The Director asked that we…"

"I don't care what she said, Abby! Tell me who he is!"

Unused to Gibbs snapping at her, Abby shrank back slightly, "Um Viggo Dratnyev, landed at Los Angeles International Airport at six am on Sunday morning."

"Did the Director ask anything else?"

"Just that she wanted some background information."

"And?"

"And I don't think that he was always Viggo Dratnyev, that alias only appeared nine years ago, I wasn't able to find anything out any further back than that."

Gibbs nodded silently, his gut churning as he took in the pitures of Nikolai Tarasov, a man who he had thought was dead for the past nine years. He didn't know what was going on, all he knew was that he had to ge a hold of Jenny, and fast. Without saying a word he turned around and left the lab.

* * *

As they made their way to Decker's front door Jenny and Mike made an odd looking pair. She was perfectly made up and looked like she had breezed out of the pages of a magazine. Mike looked as though he had just rolled out of bed after a hard night on the tiles. His hair was unkempt and his chin stubbly, he looked as though he had slept in his clothes or at the very least had never heard of an iron. Yet again he had another cigarette dangling from his mouth as his dark eyes scanned over the frontage of the house, "You said Decker left NCIS, what did he do afterwards to afford this place?"

"He won the lottery after leaving NCIS."

Mike sounded mildly amused as he muttered, "Lucky guy."

Jenny shot him a dirty look, "Ok so it's unlikely that ever happened. Nikolai probably paid him off."

"Probably?"

"You know we don't need to talk."

Mike chuckled to himself and dropped his cigarette to the ground, crushing its remains under his heel as Jenny hit the doorbell. Stepping back slightly, she waited patiently for Sasha to answer the door. They didn't have to wait long. Less than a minute had passed when the door opened and the tearful blonde stood in the doorway. She blinked, confused for a minute until recognition dawned over her face.

"Jennifer Sheppard, sorry I forgot that you were coming over", she gestured behind her, "Come in."

They followed her into the living room and watched as Sasha walked over to the bookcase, pulling out a dog-eared paperback, and pulling a yellowing piece of card from between the pages handed it over to Jenny.

Jenny looked at the card and noticed her name and an address was written on one side and a key was taped to the other, she looked up at Sasha, "Do you know anything about this?"

The younger woman nodded, "It's the key for a diner that Will bought at the end of last year. He was going to start doing it up next month. I don't know why he's left you the key though, I really don't."

Reaching over Mike grabbed the card out of Jenny's hand and scanned the address. He gave Jenny a meaningful look as he stated, "It's in the middle of nowhere."

Jenny instantly knew what he was getting at, the chances were that if she really was next then someone could very well be watching them, or would be tracing her steps, so an abandoned diner wasn't the safest place for them to be. She met Mike's eyes, her voice unwavering as she replied, "Well we better get moving then", almost daring him to challenge her. He didn't, although he almost imperceptively inclined his head in Sasha's direction. Jenny instantly knew what he meant, if someone was looking for her and tracing her steps then they would follow her here and that put Sasha in a lot of danger. She didn't want this young girl's death on her conscience. She turned her attention to the young blonde and gave her a concerned smile as she asked, "How are you holding up?"

Sasha's eyes instantly watered as she replied, "Not too good, I just feel so alone here. Will's family and I don't really see eye to eye. They thought I only wanted his money", she let out a small sob, "I don't know what to do."

"Do you have family here?"

"My mum live about ninety miles away and my car's in the shop. I suppose I could go there in a few days when I pick it up."

"I don't think you should be alone right now", Jenny rummaged around in her bag for a second before pulling out her car keys, "Take my car and you can leave now."

Taking the key Sasha looked up at her slightly stunned, "Why would you do this for me?"

Jenny gave her a sad smile, "I know how hard it is too lose someone you love and being here, alone, surrounded by all these memories is just going to make things worse. We'll wait for you to pack an overnight bag and then we'll walk you out."

Sasha nodded gratefully and headed silently in the direction of the main bedroom. Waiting until she was out of earshot Mike turned to face Jenny, "You just gave away our ride. You planning to walk through the desert?"

Jenny laughed softly, "No, you are going to rent us a new car."

"Up until a few minutes ago we had a perfectly good car."

"Look, if they come looking for me the trail is going to lead them here and from what I know about Nikolai I don't think he's going to play nice with the grieving girlfriend of the man he murdered. I need to know she's safe. None of this is her fault. She's just been dragged into the middle of this mess."

Mike eyed her for another second, "Fine, but after this you run stuff like this by me, I don't play second fiddle. Especially not to a woman."

Jenny didn't bother replying. Thankfully she was saved the hassle of even having to ignore him, as her phone began to ring, she pulled it out of her bag, as she checked the caller I.D. she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Gibbs. Just what she needed - another chauvinist.

* * *

**xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

Gibbs stormed out of the lab and walked until he knew he was out of earshot before pulling out his cell phone. For a minute he considered calling Jenny and asking her what the hell was going on. But he quickly realised that this wasn't a viable option. If she'd wanted to involve him then she would have contacted him; instead she'd gone out of her way to hide this from him - which meant she wasn't likely open up over the phone. For a moment he considered his options. He would call DiNozzo and tell him and Ziva to keep her on an even shorter leash than usual. Then once he got her back here safely then they could consider their options together, whether she approved or not.

Dinozzo picked up his phone in the first few seconds, "Hey boss, everything ok?"

Gibbs decided it was better if he didn't alert his agents to the fact that something was amiss. Chances were they would let Jenny know he was concerned about something and then all hell would then break loose. So instead he just replied, 'It's fine. Phoning to see how the funeral went.'

"It went ok, nothing out of the ordinary."

"How's the Director? She knew Decker well, is she holding up?"

"Yeah, think so."

"You think so Dinozzo? As an investigator you should be able to read her!"

"Um yeah, it's just that she kind of gave us the afternoon off, so we're not actually with her right this very second."

Feeling his heart sink Gibbs asked, "Where is she?"

"Doing paperwork, in the hotel."

"And you know this for sure?"

"Well she said that she was….."

"Dinozzo! You are on protection detail! Meaning you are supposed to protect her. Explain to me how you can do that if you don't even know where she is!"

"Well um…"

"I don't want excuses Dinozzo. Now you track the Director down and you and Ziva glue yourself to her sides."

With that Gibbs slammed his phone shut and leant against the wall trying to calm down. It didn't work. Something was wrong, he could feel it in his gut. Once again he opened his cell phone and dialed in her number, praying she would answer. A feeling of immense relief flooded through him when she did, her cool tones floating over the connection.

"What is it Agent Gibbs? Is walking in my heels proving to be to big a challenge?"

"No. Just phoning to ask how the funeral went this morning."

"It went as planned. Why do you ask?"

"I knew Will well. Wanted to know he got the send off he deserved."

"You needn't worry it was a very fitting service, now if that is all Agent Gibbs…"

"What are your plans for the rest of the trip?"

He heard her heavy sigh over the line and could picture her rubbing at her forehead, trying to resist the urge to reach down the phone and throttle him, "I have paperwork to catch up on", came the tired reply.

"No plans to enjoy the sun?"

"No."

"Tony and Ziva will be disappointed. They behaving themselves?"

"They're fine. Don't call me again unless the building burns to the ground, Jethro."

With that last statement she hung up, leaving Gibbs glaring at the opposite wall. She was lying to him. He could even sense her right eye twitching. She was up to something. Something big and he'd be dammed if he was going to sit here while she ran off on her own and played agent.

* * *

Tony stared at his phone for a second and then looked over at a frowning Ziva who asked, "What did Gibbs want?"

"Wanted to know how the funeral went. He wasn't too happy when he found out Jenny gave us the rest of the trip off."

"Well there's a surprise", Ziva remarked, her voice dripping with sarcasm as her frown deepened even further. "I think we should go and find her, tell her we're staying on duty."

"No. Look the Director gave us a direct order. You know what they're like. It's a constant cycle of them trying to prove which one's really the boss and for once I don't want to get caught up in the middle of it.. Anyway our car will be here in a minute. Come on Ziva lighten up and let's just go enjoy ourselves for a change. The Director's a big girl. If she needs us she'll call."

Ziva thought for a second, something still clawing away in the pit of her stomach. But Tony was right when he said Jenny could handle herself so she pushed the feeling of doubt to one side. She looked up at him, "Fine but if she calls…"

"We'll be with her in seconds."

"Ok", Ziva looked around the frontage of the hotel, "So where is this car?"

Tony gave her one of his trademark grins as he pointed to the red convertible that had just pulled round the corner, "She's all ours…", he gave her a slightly fearful look as he added, "But I'm driving."

Ziva choked back a laugh, "Fine, but first movie quote….", she shot him a meaningful glance as she slid into the passenger seat and made herself comfortable.

* * *

McGee jumped as Gibbs stormed back into the lab and snapped, "Grab your gear, we're going."

Shooting Abby a bewildered look McGee asked, "Where exactly are we going boss?"

"L.A."

* * *

Ziva shot Tony a glare as they sat in the never-ending line of traffic. he just grinned back at her.

"You wanted the authentic L.A. experience I'm giving it to you"

"No", she spat back at him, "I wanted to stay at the hotel and read my book."

"They have books in D.C."

"They have traffic as well."

Tony's response to this was to turn up the music. Ziva's glare deepened and she leaned forward and hit the off button, causing Tony to shoot her a dirty look and honk the horn in retaliation. Ziva gave an angry sigh.

"I do not like this, something feels off."

"It's the transmission."

"No it's about the Director, Gibbs wouldn't have phoned us for no reason and it's not just that we are supposed to be escorting her."

"Maybe she found a new escort. Look Ziva, the Director is a flesh and blood woman with flesh and blood needs but if you want to call and ruin her private party then be my guest", He offered her his cell phone which she grabbed and flicked through the address book until she got to the appropriate number, she put it on loudspeaker and handed it back to him just as Jenny picked up.

"Yes, Agent Dinozzo?"

He shot Ziva a quick glare before answering, "Um hi Director, we were just wondering how everything was going, how's the paperwork?"

"Slow. Too many interruptions."

"You know it's too much of a beautiful day to be stuck inside."

"Do you need something Agent Dinozzo?"

"No just checking in with our fearless leader."

"Who's it this time?", A deep male voice floated over the line, causing Tony to waggle his eyebrows triumphantly at Ziva.

Jenny didn't even acknowledge the interruption though as she continued to talk, "What have I told you Tony?"

"Not to call you our fearless leader?"

"And….", she prompted

"To take the day off."

"Well I suggest you enjoy your time in L.A. because I can always find you something to do."

Tony closed his phone over and turned on Ziva, "Paperwork had a deep voice."

"Just because she is with a man, does not mean she is sleeping with him."

Tony choked back a laugh and smirked at Ziva, "Oh yeah I'm sure they're tag teaming the paperwork."

"She is hiding something from us."

"Yes Ziva, it's called a a sex life. Perhaps if you had one you'd be slightly more understanding."

Ziva laughed despite herself, "Oh I could tell you stories."

Turning to face her again Tony looked at her over the top of his sunglasses, "Tell. Slowly. And don't feel you have to skimp on the details."

"I might consider it if you tell me one thing. Why would Gibbs call us for no reason?"

Tony shrugged, "Maybe he's jealous. Did you ever consider that maybe he phoned the Director, heard this mystery man, wanted to know what his ex was up, and phoned us? Come on Ziva, guys don't like it when their exes move on. Right now he is probably just annoyed because the Director is getting down and dirty with another man and to add insult to injury he's stuck covering for her while she does so."

Sighing, Ziva tapped her finger's off of the dashboard, "Maybe"

"No maybe about it. Let's just do as she's asked and stay out of the way. Believe me you'll thank me for it later when Gibbs is interrogating us for details and we'll be able to say honestly that we don't know."

"Fine. But just for the record, I still don't like this."

* * *

Jenny looked up at Franks after disconnecting the call. He stared back as he commented, "Someone's in demand today."

She sighed and half joked, "What can I say, I'm indispensable."

"Yeah well I'm not too worried about the muppets who are meant to be protecting you, but do you not think it's kind of suspicious that they phone you an hour after Gibbs."

"No, I don't. He's probably spoken to them but they seem content to enjoy some time off. I'm not worried."

"What about Gibbs?"

"He doesn't know anything. He may know I gave my protection detail the trip off but that's all he knows. Anyway he's in D.C. so he can't do anything. Now can we please drop the subject, make sure Sasha gets away safely, rent a car and get a move on?"

Franks studied the woman for a second. She was edgy. Given the circumstances she had every right to be, but he had the feeling that she was hiding something from him, something completely unrelated to the case. He also knew when to push an issue and when to let it lie, and for now at least he was content to leave it alone; well at least until he had something more than suspicions to confront her with.

* * *

**xxx**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Authors Note:** I feel I should apologize for the length of time between updates. As I'm sure most of you know it's exam time and I've been busy studying....well attempting to. Good news is that from the end of next week I'll be done :) and the updates should pick up pace, hopefully._

* * *

Shifting uncomfortably in his narrow airplane seat, McGee glanced over at his boss. The man hadn't said a thing to him over the last two hours, and even for Gibbs that was a feat. The car journey to the airport had been decidedly unpleasant, and it hadn't just been Gibbs's driving - although McGee had resorted to compulsive swallowing to stop himself from throwing up all over the car. It hadn't even been the silence that had seemed to echo around the car. No, what had really set McGee on edge was the somewhat murderous look on Gibbs's face. His lips were pursed so tightly that the skin around them was almost white and his jaw was clenched so hard that the tendons in his neck actually stood out in stark relief. It had been that look that had stopped McGee from asking why they needed to rush to L.A. he figured it had something to do with the Director and the photos she had sent Abby, rather than it having anything to do with Tony or Ziva. He doubted that no matter what Tony did, he would never be able to provoke such a reaction out of Gibbs.

Things hadn't improved any as they had pulled up to the airport, with Gibbs abandoning the car at the taxi rank outside the entrance. McGee had looked at the vehicle and even opened his mouth to suggest they move it to an actual car park, but when he had looked over at his boss, the man had been no where to be seen. Whirring around on the spot in a slight panic McGee had actually let out a sigh of relief when he spotted Gibbs storming away in the direction of the ticket desk and followed suit. He had then stood and stared miserably at his feet as Gibbs had demanded to be put on the next flight to L.A. despite the fact it was due to take off in twenty minutes. The desk clerk had only relented when Gibbs had flashed his badge and growled that it was a matter of national security that they were on that flight. She had also manage to see that they were rushed through security and as a result they had made it on the flight less than an hour after leaving NCIS.

McGee quietly sighed and looked at his watch, it was a five hour flight to L.A. and they had another four hours to go. He had a feeling it would be a long four hours. He glanced over at Gibbs, the older man had stolen the window seat, something McGee had found odd, he had fully expected his boss to demand the aisle seat so that he could make a quick exit when the plane landed. That being said, with the black mood that Gibbs was currently stuck in McGee wouldn't be surprised that if he didn't move quickly enough, then he would find himself on the floor with Gibbs storming out over the top of him. Right now however, he looked as though he was lost in his thoughts as he gazed out of the small window, his fists tightly clenched and held tightly at his sides. McGee couldn't quite see his face but he instinctively knew Gibbs's forehead would be creased in concentration and his blue eyes would be narrowed, the stare hard, like flint. McGee looked away, he also knew that now was not the time to try and pry answers out of his boss, and so was just debating whether to watch the in-flight film or try and nap when a bright, cheerful voice interrupted his internal debate, "Would you like any refreshments Sir?"

Looking up McGee took in the sight of the pretty blonde hostess smiling at him and realised just how dry his mouth was - it must be nerves, and he dug out his wallet, "Just some still water please"

She nodded and handed his drink over before turning her attention to Gibbs, who continued to stare out the window, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around him, "Would you like anything from the trolley?"

Much to McGee's surprise Gibbs actually looked up, obviously paying more attention than he had previously given him credit for and shook his head, "No thank you"

The stewardess smiled politely and continued on her way, but since she had diverted Gibb's attention from the window McGee figured there was no time like the present to ask Gibbs what was going on. The young Agent nervously cleared his throat before forcing out, "Um boss?"

**********************

Gibbs's mind was whirring as he stared out into the bright nothingness that was on the other side of the window pane. He was trying to figure out what Jenny was planning. She obviously had something up her sleeve, otherwise why would she have fobbed Tony and Ziva off? Gibbs felt his fist clench even tighter, almost subconsciously and he had to bite back a curse, what was going through his team's heads? They were supposed to be on protection detail, they even gave the job description in the sodding title! He thought he had taught them better, thought they would realise that they should never, ever let their guard down. At the moment he could only hope that they had paid attention to him and his warning, and tracked her down again. Surely they wouldn't push their luck by doing otherwise, Gibbs felt his stomach constrict, he knew deep down that they hadn't bothered, too entranced by the prospect of a few days to run unrestricted about L.A. and counting on the fact that he couldn't stop them. One thing was clear to Gibbs, when he got his hands on his two supposedly senior Agents, he was going to have to kill them, Tony would be in traction after the head slap he would receive for this stunt.

As for Jenny, surely she wasn't foolish enough to try and fix this on her own, whatever this was. His stomach tightened again, she would run off on her own, take the chance to fix what she saw as a failure. Deep down he knew she would, he just had to make sure he got their in time to stop her from doing something irreversible.

Out of the corner of his eye Gibbs saw the stewardess approach them, he heard her talk to McGee, and silently willed her to ignore him and walk on; she didn't of course and he found he had to answer the innocent question. For a moment he thought about asking for a bourbon, knowing it would help ease the cold icy feeling that was currently running through his veins. As tempting as it was, he knew he had to resist, at this altitude the alcohol would hit his system hard and he just couldn't afford the after effects, there was too much going on. So instead he shook his head, grounding out, "No thank you"

As he watched her go, he turned to face the window again. He could feel McGee shift restlessly in his seat, heard him awkwardly clear his throat. Gibbs felt his eyes flutter shut for a second, and had to repress a groan. He knew his youngest Agent was bewildered over what had provoked this trip, but he really wasn't in the mood to answer those questions, in fact he wasn't even sure if he would be able to answer most of them. The mission had been classified and it still was, not only that but it was safer for McGee if he had plausible deniability. Finally he spoke, "Um boss?"

Gibbs turned to look at the younger man, "What is it McGee?"

McGee seemed unable to even meet his gaze as he spluttered out, "I just wanted to know….I mean I was wondering why we need to go to L.A.? What I mean is it because of those photos that the Director sent Abby?"

Taking a deep breath Gibbs answered, "Yes McGee it's to do with the photographs"

"Do you know the man in them?"

Gibbs grimaced, "Not exactly"

McGee frowned, "I don't understand if you…."

Gibbs interrupted him, snapping, "McGee!", The young Agent looked up, the shock in his eyes making Gibbs feel slightly guilty, none of this was McGee's fault, he softened his tone as he continued, "McGee I know you want answers but right now all I can tell you is that we need to be in L.A. and we need to get Director Sheppard back to D.C. immediately. Ok?"

McGee nodded, "Right", he didn't look particularly satisfied by the answer, but seemed to accept that was the only answer he would be getting. Gibbs turned back to face the window, and despite everything that was going on around him, he couldn't help but smile, very slightly, as he heard McGee mutter, "It's going to be a long four hours"

* * *

Abby restlessly paced the length of her lab, violently waving her hands about as she spoke, "I don't like this, my gut is playing up. There is something wrong, very wrong. Why would Gibbs just run off like that, and to L.A.? No wait…..first of all he disappears and then he storms back in, grabs Timmy and drags him to L.A.", She paused to pick up her fifth Caf Pow and her forehead furrowed in concentration as she took a long sip before continuing, "It has to be something to do with the Director and those photos she sent, but what is it? And why does Gibbs need to go running off to L.A. when you two are there?"

Abby whipped round to face her Tony and Ziva mops, and after a brief second of just staring at them, her eyes narrowed in realisation and she pointed at mop Tony, her voice low and accusing, "You. You have done something", she whipped round to face mop Ziva, "And don't you stand there and look all innocent, because you're not. You two are both as bad as each other", Her finger swayed between the two, CafPow gripped tightly in her other hand as she continued, "It all makes sense, Gibbs goes off to phone you two and you tell him something and he panics…….well as close to panicking as Gibbs is going to get, and runs off to save the Director", Her face relaxed slightly, "Oh that's so romantic"

Grinning slightly Abby leaned back against the cold metal counter, although the peaceful feeling and the dreams of the parents finally seeing sense and getting back together quickly shattered though, as she realised that Gibbs would only have left if they were in real trouble. She groaned, "Oh no", For a minute Abby panicked, what if they weren't ok, what would she do? She did like her new Tony and Ziva, but they really weren't great conversationalists, she much preferred the real thing. Abby shook her head. No, she would know if there was something wrong with them, wouldn't she? She'd known with Kate, well not known exactly but she'd felt something bad was in the air, "That's the problem", she groaned aloud, "There's something bad in the air just now. I want to fix it, but I don't know what it is", Abby resisted the urge to stamp her foot in frustration and instead stomped up to mop Tony and head slapped him annoyed at the goofy expression on his face, "You should be taking this more seriously. At least you're out there, you can help. I'm stuck here waiting for a phone call!", she rocked backwards on the balls of her feet and gazed at him for a moment before finally breaking the silence, "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous, anyway how can I stay mad at you, it's impossible to stay mad at you", She smiled and looked at him thoughtfully, "Although McGee's right, you do suit that moustache"

* * *

"You said overnight bag"

Jenny looked up, one eyebrow raised questionably at Mike's hissed comment, "Excuse me?"

He stopped his restless pacing and turned to glare at her, "You said pack an overnight bag, that was two hours ago. What the hell is taking so long? Is she making her own clothes?"

Stifling a laugh Jenny got up from the arm of the sofa she was perched on, "I'll go and see what's holding her up"

"Girl needs a swift kick", Mike mumbled to Jenny's departing back. Continuing to grumble to himself he looked around the room, his gaze landing on Jenny's bag on the sideboard. He quickly looked behind him, checking that she wasn't about to magically reappear. Satisfied that he was alone and would remain so, he picked it up. He knew it was dangerous to go raking through a woman's purse, but he also knew that it was one of the best places to look if you wanted to know something about them. Mike unzipped the bag and peered inside, frowning at the contents. He gave one last glance in the direction of the bedroom before pulling out the bottle of pills and scanned the prescription label, they were hers alright. Mike groaned quietly, she was sick, that was what she hiding and from the way she was acting he very much doubted that anyone knew. Hearing the bedroom door open he dropped the bottle back into the bag and put it back in it's original place before moving away and resuming his pacing. He found he didn't even have to fake the frown on his face as Jenny re-entered the room. She gave him a brief smile, "Sasha's just on her way out"

"Bout time", He just watched as she rolled her eyes and went to pick up her bag, he took the opportunity to study her carefully, she didn't look sick but then he supposed nowadays you could never really be sure. She turned round and caught his stare, she narrowed her eyes, although to his relief she actually looked slightly amused by his expression,

"Still sulking about me giving away the car?"

"Yeah, especially since you still haven't explained how we are getting from here to a rental agency"

"I know it's been a while since you've spent time in modern society, but there is such a thing as a taxi"

"Taxi's are expensive, I'm a pensioner"

She shook her head, still smiling, "I'll pay"

"No it's fine, I'll get it, a gentleman should always pay"

Jenny laughed, "You've already said you won't pay, there's no need to repeat yourself"

Mike frowned at the thinly veiled insult and grumbled under his breath again, trust Probie to get involved with a smart-mouth.

* * *

**xxx**


	8. Chapter 8

Grinning widely, Tony looked around his surroundings and took in a deep breath, exhaling loudly as he wrapped an arm around Ziva's shoulders. "It's even better than I ever dreamed it would be."

Rolling her eyes, Ziva grabbed onto his hand, and tightened her grip on his fingers, holding them in an iron like vice, twisting them slightly as she did so, her lips curling into a smile as she heard his low hiss of pain and saw him drop to his knees. Seeing the odd looks she was getting from passers-by she let go of his fingers and pushed them away. "I did not say you could touch me."

Cradling his hand, Tony got to his feet and experimentally bent his fingers, wincing as he did so, checking she hadn't broken them. "You know it wouldn't kill you to be nicer to people. I mean I take you out on the town, show you the sights and you try to maim me!"

"The sights! We are in a museum! This is not what I had in mind when you said you wanted to show me L.A."

Tony laughed. "A museum! Oh Ziva, Ziva, Ziva. This is not just any museum, this is the Hollywood Heritage museum" He waved his hand around the room, as if to illustrate his point, "This is filled with history from the Golden era of movies."

"I do not care!"

Tony let out a sigh. "Some people just don't appreciate the wonder of the film world." He looked thoughtful for a minute before a slow, easy smile spread across his face, "Tell you what, once we're done here I'll take you out for something to eat at the House of Blues," he grinned at her as though he'd just made her the offer of a lifetime.

Ziva shook her head. "No, you won't. What you will do however, is phone the Los Angeles Police Department, tell them that we are conducting a local investigation and get them to put out a trace on the Director's car so that we can check on her."

Shaking his head in despair, Tony sighed. "Ziva……We've been through this, we even called her, she's fine."

"Gibbs would not have called us if he wasn't worried about her."

"He's jealous! If something was wrong, and I mean really wrong, do you think he would have left us alone for all this time?" He took a second to watch the frown that flittered across Ziva's face before continuing, "No he wouldn't of. It has been over four hours since he called, if something was going on he would have been in touch since then."

"That may be the case, but……" Ziva bit down on her bottom lip and her frown deepened as she sighed. "Tony, something isn't right. Maybe I am over-reacting but I still think we should cover our backs and just check she's still ok."

"Fine but if we do this and we don't find anything then will you _please_ just let this drop."

Pulling out her cell phone, Ziva handed it to Tony. "If everything is well then you have my word that we can go out and enjoy the rest of this trip. I will even let you choose what we do and where we eat, everything can be your choice."

Tony nodded as he took the phone. "Ok then. Let's get this over with."

* * *

"Finally!" Mike slammed the brakes on and pulled to an abrupt halt in front of the rundown diner. He dragged himself out of the car and stretched slightly.

Jenny watched in amusement before announcing, "You know we would have been here a lot sooner if you had gotten a car with Sat Nav."

Mike's nose wrinkled and he looked at her in confusion. "Sat what?"

Laughing she replied, "Never mind."

He looked at her, still sitting inside the car, the window rolled down so she could talk to him. He pulled out a pre-rolled cigarrette and lit it, he inhaled once before using it to gesture towards the diner, asking, "You coming in?"

She nodded sharply. "Yeah, I'll catch you up in a minute, just need some air."

"Right." Mike eyed her suspiciously for a moment before deciding to let it lie, and instead headed into the diner.

Jenny sat a moment, waiting until she knew he was safely inside and opened the car door, slowly swinging her legs over the side, grimacing at the shooting pains that traveled up and down her muscles. For the most part she was suffering no ill effects at the moment, but occasionally if she stayed sitting in the one position for too long, things got…..difficult. Her fingers dug into the frame of the car as she hauled herself to her feet, swallowing heavily at the dull pain in her hips. Once she was up she made a point of slamming the door shut. She knew the pain wouldn't last long, that she was just stiff. But her recent limitations still irritated her, however small they might seem. She took a moment to sweep her hair out of her face, before heading towards the diner's entrance.

She stopped in the doorway and turned to look out over the deserted area. The wind had picked up, causing her to shiver slightly; well she told herself it was the wind. Something was clawing at her stomach though, she had a bad feeling about this. Jenny swallowed heavily and told herself she was being foolish, that everything was fine. All she had to do was find this insurance policy, then get the hell out of dodge, and then she could fix this mess and move on. She took one last deep breath of fresh air, knowing the building was likely to be airless and musty, before finally entering the diner.

* * *

A little over an hour later hour later Tony and Ziva drove up towards Santa Monica beach. Tony smirked as he looked around the makeshift car park at the pier and saw all the blonde babes in bikini's, he sighed longingly. "I love California"

Shaking her head Ziva mumbled, "You are a pig"

"Yeah well I'm a pig who's about to be proved right. See." Tony pointed up ahead where the Director's rental car was sitting in perfect condition.

Ziva sighed in relief as she spotted it. "Well it looks ok. But what is she doing here?"

"You mean _who_ is she doing here." Tony grinned as Ziva glared back at him and then stepped out of the car. Tony called out after her, "Hey! No get back in here, if she catches us snooping then we are worse than dead. Ziva!"

"I just want to take a look"

Tony slammed his head against the headrest in frustration. "You heard the guy on the phone, she's probably lying on the beach right now, getting him to rub lotion onto her back," at that thought he perked up slightly, "Do you think she's in a bikini?"

Ziva sighed but ignored the lecherous comment, instead she made her way back to their car, realising that there was nothing untowards there. "Fine Tony, you win. We can go now."

"I did tell you Zee-vah!" Tony smirked happily to himself as they pulled away from the Director's car. They had only driven a few yards when they spotted a police car sitting with it's lights flashing.

Shooting Tony a concerned look Ziva muttered, "This cannot be good."

All his earlier joviality gone, Tony looked completely serious, his mouth set in a hard line as he pulled the car into the nearest space, the brakes screeching slightly as he did so. No sooner had he stopped were he and Ziva out of the car, and making their way through the dense crowd that currently surrounded the pier.

As they reached the stone steps that would lead them onto the beach, an officer stepped in front of them. "I'm sorry, authorized personnel only"

Both Tony and Ziva were used to this response and in turn pulled out their badges, Tony smiled at the officer, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Federal Agents, let us through"

The young man shifted nervously on his feet, he had never heard of NCIS and was reluctant to let them through, although at the same time he really didn't want to piss off the feds. Thankfully his problem was solved when a deep voice spoke up from behind him. "I don't remember calling for anyone," the owner of the voice reached out and tilted Tony's badge so he could read it, "And I really don't think Navy cops will be required here"

Ziva sucked in a breath at patronizing his tone and had to restrain herself from reaching out and snapping his neck like a twig. Forcing herself to remain calm she ground out, "We simply want to know what the problem is."

The man sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I think introductions first, Detective Wilson, homicide"

Seeing that Ziva was about to explode, Tony took over the introductions on their part, "Agent Dinozzo and Officer David." He nodded towards the beach. "So what's happened?"

"Dead Caucasian female, looks like she fell over the barriers, no I.D. on the victim, but I very much doubt NCIS need to get involved."

Tony felt his gut constrict as he processed the words that were coming out of the detectives mouth, he also felt, as well as heard, Ziva's hurried intake of breath. He suddenly became aware that the detective was looking at them, his face twisted in a mixture of confusion and interest. Clearing his throat first, Tony forced himself to speak. "We'd like to take a look at the body if you don't mind."

Wilson looked at them, and for a minute they thought he would turn them away, but amazingly he didn't. Instead he nodded and beckoned them to follow him. Tony's heart was in his mouth as he did so, he began to silently curse himself for not tracking down the Director earlier. It just couldn't be a coincidence that her car was parked next to a dead woman and she was nowhere in sight. As they drew closer Tony could make out an elegantly manicured hand and feeling sick to his stomach, he subconsciously shut his eyes. Then he heard Ziva's loud exhale of breath and her whisper of, "Thank God." Tony opened his eyes and let out a breath he hadn't even realised he'd been holding as he took in the blonde hair, the very different shape and features of the dead woman lying before them. It wasn't Jenny, that being said though she was very familiar.

Just as he was thinking about where he had seen her before Ziva let out a low groan, "Tony we have a problem, that's the girl from the funeral, Decker's girlfriend."

The Detective looked up in interest. "You know her?"

Tony turned to face him. "Yeah, her name's Sasha Gordon, we were at her boyfriend's funeral this morning."

Detective Wilson nodded knowingly. "I get the picture now. Distraught, she either gets drunk and falls, or decides to end it all."

"Or!" Ziva snapped, "It could be murder!"

At this the other man's eyes narrowed. "Now why would you think that?"

Before Ziva could reply, Tony butted in, laughing awkwardly. "She doesn't think that, she just gets a little....tetchy in the heat. Well it's obvious we aren't needed here so we'll let you guys get on now," he hooked his arm under Ziva's and dragged her away, now he knew it wasn't the Director he wanted to get as far away from here as quickly as possible before she did spot them. "Come on."

Confused, Ziva snapped, "Tony! What are you doing?"

"We're leaving."

Ziva snorted. "Yes I can see that, but what I don't understand is why? She knew the Director, she spoke to her this morning and now we find her dead, a few hundred yards away from the Director's car! That is not nothing, and if the car is here, then where is the Director?"

Tony shrugged and looked unconcerned. "I don't know, but we've already spoken to the Director and she said she was fine."

"That was hours ago!"

"What does it matter? This is a coincidence! She'll be in a nearby hotel chowing down on some over-priced cashew nuts. Now come on."

"And if she isn't? Too many things don't make sense here. Why can't you see that", Ziva's eyes flittered over his face and as she took in his almost petulant expression, realisation dawned on her. "You do see it! You just don't want to get involved!"

Rubbing irritably at his forehead Tony snapped, "She doesn't want us involved! She's a big girl Ziva, she can take care of herself."

"And if she can't?"

"If there is one thing I've learned Ziva it's that when it comes to the Director's private wars it's best to stay away. For her; and for us."

Any reply she could have made was cut off by Tony's cell phone blaring into life. He dug it out of his pocket and looked grimly at the screen as he read over the caller I.D. Ziva looked up at him hopefully. "Is that the Director?"

"No." Tony shook his head, "It's Gibbs."

* * *

Luckily for McGee the flight didn't take the full five hours - they caught a good tail wind and landed in Los Angeles International airport half an hour earlier than planned. As the younger Agent had predicted, Gibbs was up and shoving him towards the exit the moment the seatbelt signs went off. They didn't have any luggage so they were first to security and got through with no issues. The process of renting a car also went relatively smoothly and as a result they exited the airport less than an hour after arriving.

The minute Gibbs was in the car he had his cell phone out of his pocket and was dialing Tony's number, his fingers drumming insistently on the steering wheel as he waited for him to answer, and hopefully tell him that Jenny was there with them.

Eventually Tony did pick up, his voice wary. "Hi Boss."

"You track down the Director yet?"

"No."

"Why the hell not!"

"We did try to, but......to be honest we may have a bit of a problem here."

Gibbs felt his heart sink as he asked "What kind of problem Dinozzo?"

"Ziva and I traced the Director's car to Santa Monica beach, there isn't any sign of her. We did however find Decker's girlfriend"

"What did she say?"

"Not a lot; she's dead Boss."

His head fell back against the headrest and Gibbs rubbed at his forehead as he tried to figure out what this meant for Jenny, and whether or not this was tied to Nikolai. It had to be he decided grimly. Out loud he asked. "How'd she die?"

"Looks like she fell."

"Looks like?"

"Well it's a bit early to know for sure, it could have been suicide."

"Or murder."

Tony obviously decided to pretend he hadn't heard that comment as he continued on regardless, "The Los Angeles Police are planning to do an Autopsy and if everything checks out then the case will be closed as an accidental death. This doesn't involve us. And anyway," Dinozzo continued his tone growing defensive, "We spoke to the Director earlier and she said she was fine."

Gibbs felt the rage build up in his stomach, he understood that his senior Agent was still pissed about the whole Frog debacle, he was too, but he thought in these circumstances he would rise above it. He took a deep breath, telling himself that it was just because Dinozzo didn't have all the information, that he didn't know just how much trouble Jenny was in. He practically growled at him. "Like hell this doesn't involve us. Just stay where you are Dinozzo until I speak to you again."

His tone a bit bewildered Tony replied. "Um ok, will do Boss."

With that Gibbs ended the call and turned to McGee. "How long to get to Santa Monica beach?"

McGee typed it into the Sat Nav and answered. "Bout twenty minutes"

"We'll be there in ten." At this declaration McGee braced himself and prayed he wouldn't be bringing up his dinner.

* * *

**xxxx**


	9. Chapter 9

"Thought you said you knew where this insurance policy was", Mike stated, as he strolled around the diner. Pausing briefly to watch Jenny raid through yet more boxes of junk. His head tilted slightly in an attempt to get a better view of her.

The woman in question didn't even look up from her task as she replied, "I never said I knew. Decker said I did. And stop looking at my ass."

Mike averted his gaze and continued to wander, muttering "Not much else to look at. Of course it might help if you were to tell me what the hell we're looking for."

Jenny pulled herself to her feet, and swirled around to face him.

"Decker knew that someone was after him, after us, and he knew why."

"Your mystery op."

Jenny gave a brief nod. "Any useful insurance policy would contain names."

"Viggo."

"Real names, targets, dates. Plus operational blueprints. Something that would tell us what went wrong the first time. Photos even."

Waving his arm at the wall behind him Mike pointed out, "You got plenty of those."

Jenny glared at him, but still turned to look at numerous photo frames that covered the wall. Her frown quickly vanished as she flashed back to Paris and how they had used photos then; writing details on them in the pretense that they were dates. She moved towards the wall, her eyes flickering over every photo, before removing one of Decker with Sasha. She looked at the date, 5/3/78.

"These dates are wrong" she said as she continued to remove the photos one by one. Whirling round to face Mike, she asked, "do you have a pen?"

He nodded and handing it over followed her over to one of the few upright tables in the room.  
Jenny examined the photos, pointing one out that carried the date 4/7/81, she stated, "Decker's leaving party in 99."

Mike nodded and gestured to another one, of Decker and friends in front of a TV screen. "September 18th 2004," noting Jenny's quizzical stare he pointed at the TV screen, "Hopkins, De la Hoya."

Jenny nodded and smiled slightly, relieved that they were actually getting somewhere, and continued to write down the numbers.

"This is some kind of code."

"It's too long for a cash account."

"Could be a safe deposit box?" At that point Jenny's phone once again interrupted the proceedings, she pulled it out and glared at it. "Ziva. Again."

Mike shook his head, "If you don't answer it they're going to call in the swat team."

Jenny nodded and answered the call.  


* * *

Leaning against the car door, Tony tilted his head up slightly, trying to catch the warmth of the late-afternoon sun on his face. Ziva stood next to him, fidgeting restlessly, with small but irate sighs escaping from her lips every so often. Tony frowned. She was really beginning to annoy him. After a few more seconds he finally snapped, his tone terse as he asked, "what is it now?"

"I cannot believe this doesn't bother you."

"What doesn't?"

"Why would Gibbs tell us to wait here?"

Tony gave a small shrug. "How am I meant to know?"

"I never said you should know, I meant that you should be curious. It doesn't make sense. Ordering us to find the Director would make sense. This, this does not."

"You mentioned that already."

Ziva rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, her tone even sharper than before. "I really think that you need to take this more seriously. He obviously has something planned for us."

"You're right, he probably does; but you are overlooking one very big point Ze-vah."

"Which is?"

Tony looked at her, and smirking slipped the sunglasses off of his face, folding them neatly and placing them in the top pocket of his shirt before speaking. "Gibbs is in D.C. over 2000 miles away. Until we go home he can't actually touch us, by which time we will have the Director back safe and sound."

"Maybe we should call her."

"Why would we do that?"

"To ask her where she is! Tony her car has been found next to a dead woman and she is nowhere in sight. Surely, at the very least that warrants a phone call."

"I really don't think interrupting her, again, is the right move."

"Well then look at it this way. Gibbs obviously plans to get back in touch with us. It will work in our favour if we can at least tell him we have spoken to the Director. And we need to tell her about Sasha. She will not be happy if she finds out we did not keep her informed."

Tony's mouth twisted slightly in distaste, knowing Ziva was right.

"Ok", he conceded, "You may have a point. It would make things slightly better for us with Gibbs."

"Especially if we get her location."

Sighing in defeat Tony threw his hands up, "Fine. But this time you get to do all the talking."

"Fine." Ziva grabbed the cell phone she had in her pocket and quickly located Jenny's number, hitting the call button.

It didn't take her long to answer; her voice floating over the speaker, her tone brisk. "This had better be World War Three, Officer David."

Ziva decided to cut straight to the point seeing no point in delaying the inevitable, "Sasha Gordon is dead."

There was a brief pause before Jenny spoke again - and this time her voice was very slightly weaker as she asked, "What happened?"

"L.A.P.D. is still investigating, but it appears that she broke her neck in a fall. Director she was found less than a hundred metres away from your vehicle, where are you?"

"When?"

"Roughly three hours ago. Director we were assigned to protect you. This is not just a coincidence. Now where are you?"

Jenny's voice grew harsh again as she snapped, "I don't appreciate your tone Officer David. And despite what Agent Gibbs may have taught you, coincidences do exist and that is what we have here."

"Ok, but-"

"I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about. I will meet you later to take the red eye flight home."

Ziva stared at her cellas Jenny hung up on her. She looked up at Tony, her eyes narrowing in frustration. Tony gave her a small smirk.

"Well that went well. Told you she was fine."

"She is not fine. She is very obviously lying!"

"Why would she lie?"

"Maybe she was forced?"

"Did she use the duress word?"

"No."

"Well then there you go. If someone had a gun to her head she would've used the duress word."

"Not necessarily. I still think that something is wrong."

Tony snorted, "You would."

Ziva decided to ignore the obvious slur and continued, not paying any attention to the car that had screeched into the car park. "I think we should call McGee, get him to trace her cell phone. That way we can be-"

"Ziva" Tony interrupted her, causing her to glare at him, fully intending to hurt him; that was until she noticed how deathly pale he had went. His voice sounded slightly hoarse as he choked out. "I don't think we're going to need to call McGee."

"Oh! And why not?"

"Turn around."

Frowning Ziva did as she was told, and as she did she could actually feel the colour drain from her face as she watched a miserable McGee and a furious Gibbs head towards them.  


* * *

Jenny took a deep breath as she processed the news she had just heard. She rubbed irritably at her forehead, trying to force herself to focus on the situation at hand. She swung round to face Mike, who eyed her curiously.

"Good news?"

Shaking her head, Jenny forced her voice to stay steady as she replied. "Not for Sasha."

Mike let out a distasteful sigh before asking "what happened?"

"Broke her neck in a fall. I told Sasha to leave town."

"She probably went back to the house to grab a few things, and this Nikolai or Viggo or whoever he's masquerading as, got to her. We have to assume she talked. That he knows about us."

"And this place."

"And Decker's insurance policy."

Jenny's eyes widened momentarily before falling back into a frown, she snatched up the photos she had spread out on the table and the packet of matches that lay next to them. Walking over to the old wood burning stove in the corner of the room, she bundled the pile inside, throwing a lit match in after them.

Mike watched for a moment before getting to his feet.

"Guess he's going to be on his way." He glanced at his watch, "If we leave now...."

Sitting down, Jenny replied, "You can go. I'm staying. This ends here."

He eyed her for a moment before placing his foot onto a nearby chair, Mike pulled out the gun hidden at his ankle and held it out to her. "You're going to need a clean one." He waited until she took it, and then sat down on the chair across from her.

Jenny gave a small smile. "I meant for you to go."

"I know. But you have a better chance of walking out of here if you have back-up."

"And if he takes out both of us? Who's going to warn Gibbs."

"Won't happen."

"I don't need your death on my conscience."

Mike stared her down. "It won't happen. Anyway Rule 15 says never go anywhere without back up."

Jenny let out a small laugh despite herself. "Thought Rule 15 is always work as a team."

"It's the same thing."  


* * *

Swallowing heavily Tony tried to remain calm as an irate Gibbs stood almost nose to nose with him. "Didn't expect to see you here, Boss."

Gibbs reply was a near growl. "I _know_ you didn't. Now where is the Director?"

"Um we don't actually know boss."

"When I phoned you over five hours ago, what did I tell you?"

Tony glanced sideways at Ziva, pleading with his eyes for her to step in. Gibbs noticed of course and moved even closer, snarling. "I don't know why you're looking at her to save you, I'll be dealing with her as well. Now answer the question."

"You told us to find the Director."

"And?"

"To glue ourselves to her sides."

"So why didn't you do it?"

"We did call her Boss and she said she was fine."

"Then why is her car a hundred metres away from a dead woman?"

"Coinci…..", Tony trailed off at the sight of the glare he was getting. "We did call her a few minutes ago, and she told us that she was ok."

Gibbs took a small step back, prompting Tony to let out a small sigh of relief; although he remained on edge. Gibbs continued to glare as he asked. "Does she know about Decker's girlfriend?"

"Yes."

"Right. So you have her location?"

Tony shook his head, "No. She uh, wouldn't tell us. She hung up on Ziva, Boss."

Gibbs shook his head, resisting the urge to throttle his lead Agent. Instead he turned to face McGee. "Can we trace her location using her cell?"

McGee jumped to attention. "Yes, but not from here. We'd need to call Abby."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing, I'll do it just now." With that McGee got to work. He didn't have to wait long. Abby must have pounced on the phone, as she answered on the first ring.

"McGee! How are you? In fact where are you? Well I know you're in L.A. but where about? Did you find the Director? Is she ok?"

"We're fine Abby, but I need you to run a trace on the Directors cell phone for me, get a location."

"Ok. How's Gibbs?"

McGee risked a glance up at his boss, who was still silently glaring at Tony and Ziva, "He's…....Gibbs."

"Oh good." McGee could almost hear her smile through the phone, "He had me worried running off like that. Oh."

"What?"

"The Director's cell phone is switched off. If you give me another minute though I'll get you her location from her last phone call. So are Tony and Ziva with you?"

"Yes."

"Are _they_ ok?"

"I think I'll need to get back to you on that one"

"Right….Well I have a location. The Director is thirty five miles into the Mojave Desert. I can send you the co-ordinates and you can put them into your cars' Sat-Nav."

"Thanks Abby. I'll see you soon."

"Ok. And McGee?"

"Yeah?"

"Bring her home safe."

McGee didn't answer, just ended the call. He looked over at Gibbs and spoke before his boss even had the chance to ask the question. "The Director's in the Mojave Desert, about thirty five miles in. Abby's sending us the exact co-ordinates."

Gibbs gave him a small nod of thanks. "Right then, lets go. McGee you're in the front with me." He once again sent a glare in Tony and Ziva's direction. "You two - in the back."

Tony thought about suggesting that they follow behind them, but he took one look at Gibbs face and decided just to keep quiet for once. Ziva obviously had the same idea and the two trailed miserably towards Gibbs's rental. Only speeding up when he roared back. "Move it!"

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Mike watched in amusement as Jenny checked over her weapon. Tilting his chair on its axis slightly, he asked, "you always clean your gun before a fight?"

Jenny looked up, her eyes glittering with silent laughter as she replied teasingly, "it's not my gun. You always sit on your ass before one?"

"What should I be doing?"

Jenny gave a small shrug before suggesting, "assessing our situation."

Mike gave a small snort of laughter.

"Read that in the manual?" He looked over her appraisingly, and then gestured towards the diner's back door, "Dead bolt lock, same as the front. Wooden door frames. Stucco plaster walls at the front, stone at the back. Should provide adequate cover as long as they don't come in too heavy. Situation assessed."

Jenny gave a small smile as she reassembled the gun. Picking it up, she stood up and moved towards one of the larger front windows, slipping into a booth; her feet resting on the seat's cushion. She looked back over at Mike. "I never said thanks."

Mike sucked deeply on his cigarette, and without glancing at her replied, "thank me later."

For a moment Jenny just watched him. He seemed so focused, so calm. She glanced away, choosing instead to look out onto the vastness of the desert before speaking again. "I always had a bad feeling about that op. I should have followed my instinct. Should have chased it up."

"You were a probie. Wasn't your place. Decker should've done his job, he had a target. If anyone is to blame for this mess then it's him."

"No," Jenny shook her head, "It could just have easily been my mistake. I couldn't take down my target either. In the end Gibbs had to do it. Out of the three of us he was the only one to do his job."

Mike eyed her. "The difference is that you faced up to your mistake, Decker didn't."

"Maybe."

"People make their beds, they have to learn to lie in them."

"What if they don't want to?"

Mike narrowed his eyes, conscious of the fact that the subject seemed to have jumped somewhat. That she was now referring more to herself than she was to Decker.

"Gibbs did say you were complicated." Jenny looked at him, curiosity burning in her eyes. Franks stubbed out his cigarette before continuing, "What do you think we talked about, all those nights out on the boat?"

Jenny momentarily shut her eyes; biting down on her bottom lip, before shaking her head and turning her attention back to the window. "It doesn't really matter," she muttered.

Mike frowned. "He came back for you, how can that not matter?"

"He didn't come back for me, he came back for the good of the Agency."

"He didn't really mention the Agency too much. It really was more the people in it. One in particular." Mike narrowed his eyes before moving in for the kill. "You're both young, you both have your lives ahead of you…" He trailed off on seeing Jenny's stricken face. "Unless," he swung his chair around to face her, "you don't have long left."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Person gets a look in their eyes when time's running out."

Jenny finally turned to face him again, and arched an eyebrow at him. "Do they now?"

Mike shrugged. "OK, so maybe I saw the pills in your bag."

Looking outraged, Jenny snapped, "You went through my bag?"

Knowing she was trying to change the subject, Mike ploughed on. "Does Gibbs know you're dying?"

Jenny sighed and shook her head. She looked almost amused as she replied, "I'm afraid your gut instinct was off. As were your investigative skills. You're getting rusty in your old age-"

'Watch it," Mike growled.

Jenny let out a small laugh before her expression straightened, her eyes haunted she concluded, "I'm sick, but I'm not dying."

"Then what the hell's the problem? Take your second chance."

"I wish it was so simple."

"It's only as complicated as you decide to make it."

Shaking her head Jenny voice wavered slightly as she replied, "even if I wanted it to be easy, it never could be. Not anymore."

Mike looked at her, sensing the struggle inside her. "Just how sick are you?" He asked.

"At the moment, not very. It's controlled, but .. there's a good chance that it won't stay that way."

"All the more reason to grab life with two hands while you have the chance."

"I don't want Jethro to feel like he has to take care of me. And if things get bad, then that's what will happen. I know Jethro and he won't walk away when the going gets tough. I can't have a relationship where I have to rely on him for everything. We were always equals. It was why we worked." She shook her head. "Until I made the stupid decision to walk away, all for my stupid five point plan. Anyway it's a moot point. I left him, and I don't think he can forgive that." Jenny looked back out of the window, reliving the moment in her hallway a few months ago when she'd asked him almost blatantly to stay, and he'd refused.

Mike sat back in his seat. "You know I reckon if you told him how you felt, he'd let the past stay where it belongs. In the past."

Desperate to change the subject Jenny replied, "Lets get through this first."  


* * *

The car journey was spent in silence. With Gibbs silently seething, Tony and Ziva sharing worried looks, and McGee looking out the window wishing he was back in D.C. They had been on the road for almost an hour when they spotted the gas station up ahead. Gibbs glanced down at the fuel gauge and was further irritated by the fact that it was bordering on empty. He just didn't need this. What he needed was to get to that diner and shake some sense into Jenny. Letting out a loud sigh, he pulled up to one of the pumps, briefly noting the black jeep sitting in front of them. He frowned. Something was bothering him. He was pulled away from thinking any further on the subject by McGee's quiet voice asking, "Boss is it ok if we get out and stretch our legs?"

"Sure." Gibbs swung himself out of the car, just as the jeep began to pull away.

McGee wandered over to the newspaper stand. He was reading the days headlines when he heard a small cough behind him. He turned round to see an irate Tony and Ziva standing behind him, their arms crossed; identical glares on their faces.

"It was nice of you to warn us that Gibbs was on his way, McTraitor," Tony hissed at him.

"How was I supposed to warn you? Gibbs stormed into Abby's lab and announced we were heading to L.A. I've been stuck with him for going on eight hours now! Where should I have called you from? The plane toilet?"

"Well it's not like you'd be joining the mile high club, is it now"

Ziva joined the conversation, her eyes flashing. "You should have found a way to tell us. We could have tracked down Jenny and we wouldn't be in this mess."

"If Gibbs told you to track her down over the phone, why didn't you do it?" McGee glared at them both, "Stop blaming me! You two screwed up, and you know it!"

Tony's face darkened further, "You know what? No more Probie snacks for you. Come on Ziva, lets go somewhere else."

Ziva shot one last glare in McGee's direction, before following Tony across the dusty forecourt. McGee let out a large sigh, this was his worst nightmare come to life. He really just wanted to go home now.

Standing at the cashiers counter, Gibbs pulled out his wallet and began counting out notes. As he did so, he began to think about the jeep he had seen. It had seemed so familiar. He placed the notes down on the counter, as he did so the pictures from Decker's funeral flashed through his head, and his stomach plummeted. That was where he had seen the jeep before. It was the one that Nikolai had arrived in at the funeral. Gibbs turned on his heel and ran out of the shop, the woman behind the counter yelling after him, "Sir, your change!"

Gibbs ran towards the car, yelling at his team, "Get in the car!"

They all looked at him confusion. Gibbs threw open his car door and barked, "GET IN THE CAR NOW, OR I'LL LEAVE YOU HERE!"

The team took a collective gulp as they all but dived into the car.

* * *

**xxx**


	11. Chapter 11

The silence in the diner was beginning to get to her, and her muscles beginning to cramp.

Jenny jumped to her feet; feeling Mike's eyes on her as she moved towards the counter. Throwing the cupboard door open, she began to raid it. Her hand hit a small cardboard box and she yanked it out, calling, "I found some tea."

"What kind?"

Jenny got to her feet and shot Mike a look. "Does it matter?"

"I only drink Lemon grass."

Jenny's eyebrows shot up in disbelief.

"You're kidding, right?"

Mike stared straight at her.

"Why would I be kidding?"

"You don't really strike me as a tea drinker."

"People can always surprise you."

"Hmmm." Jenny turned her attention back to the counter top and turned the tap at the sink. She let out a low grumble of annoyance. "It doesn't matter anyway, we don't have any water."

She tossed the box across the counter in disgust.

Giving a small stretch Mike replied, "I saw a water tank out back."

"Great." Jenny smiled, "I'll go and get some then."

"Nah." Mike got to his feet, "I'll go. Need to hit the head anyway. You stay here."

Jenny watched him go, and headed back to her seat at the window. No sooner had she got there, than she saw a black jeep pull up outside the diner. Swallowing convulsively, Jenny she backed away slowly; her hand moving to her gun. She silently prayed they wouldn't see Mike out the back. She'd never wanted him to stay in the first place, and she sure as hell didn't want his death on her conscience.

She moved backwards, her eyes on the door. Her hands quivered slightly as she raised her gun. She had known when she decided to stay that it would come down to this, but thinking about something and actually facing it were two very different things. And Jenny was honest enough with herself to admit that she was terrified. The front door burst open and two men stormed in. Jenny double tapped the first onein the chest before he even had the chance to register her position. The second had just raised his gun when she fired. His finger had been on the trigger but his aim had been poor. The bullet clipped her right thigh. Jenny grimaced in pain, but the adrenaline was flowing through her and her aim stayed steady. She heard the back door fly open, and she whirled round just as a bullet skimmed her arm, grazing her flesh. She fired again, as another bullet slammed into her shoulder, the impact causing her to falter slightly. There were two left. She took out one with ease. But the second fired seconds before she did. As pain ripped through her abdomen she registered him falling to the ground.

Her gun still in hand, Jenny stumbled on her feet before she fell to her knees. Her vision blurred and she felt sick. her mouth felt funny, all she could taste was metal. She let out a low groan of pain as she fell to the side, barely feeling her head hitting off of the concrete floor. Her breathing harsh, she closed her eyes; trying to fight off the pain. The last thing she was aware of was the sound of yet more gunshots being fired.

* * *

As he headed towards the water tank, Mike was silently quite pleased with himself. He was much happier with Jenny staying inside the diner. After all, she was the target, so it was better for her to stay inside. Since they both knew the layout of the diner it would give them the upper hand, when these guys did finally arrive.

He placed the jug for the water next to the tank, then looked around before heading over to a lone bush to relieve himself. Once he was finished, he turned the valve for the tank. Rinsing his hands, then shaking them dry. He hit the valve off, and began to move back to the diner, only to curse when he realised that he'd forgotten the water. Turning back, his foot hit the jug, knocking it over. He dropped to his knees, which cracked in protest, his back to the water tank. It was then he heard the crunch of a car pulling up outside the diner, his head jerked up, and he watched, frozen in disbelief as four men jumped out, two men headed to the front door, while two headed for the back.

Mike was on his feet as quickly as possible, he pulled his gun from his holster, just as the gunshots rang out, shattering the silence of the evening. He sprinted to the back door, reaching it as two last gunshots rang out. His gun in front of him, he slipped in through the half opened door. He quickly studied the area, noting in slight despair that no one had been left standing. He heard a low groan and glanced downward at the man writhing in pain on the ground. Mike growled and pointing his gun at his head, he pulled the trigger. He moved to the other three bodies, and although he was sure they were dead, he put a bullet in each of them, just to make sure.

With that done, he looked around, frantically, for Jenny. It was her arm he saw first, blood streaked and gun still clasped in her hand. He let his gun fall to his side, barely cognizant of the fact he was letting his guard down. Mike moved slowly forward, his feet heavy, as though someone had tied weights to them. His back was stooped, his heartbeat seemed to echo in his ears as she came into view. She was still; her face set in a slight frown, a pool of crimson blood slowly spreading around her.

Mike felt like he couldn't move. He almost couldn't bring himself to check if she had a pulse because he was too afraid of the answer. He stood over her and whispered, "Come on Red, don't do this to Probie."

He was just about to lean out and touch her when the diner door creaked open, the last of the day's light creeping into the room, and a harsh male voice called out, "NCIS. Drop your weapon."

* * *

The passenger doors had barely slammed shut when Gibbs shoved his foot down on the accelerator. The wheels screeched, as a cloud of dust gathered around the car, before it lurched into life, hurtling forward.

In response to the high speed, McGee grappled with his seat belt, Tony dug his fingers into the edge of door frame, clinging on dear life and Ziva let out a very undignified squawk.

Tony, in search of an answer to Gibbs's sudden death wish by car crash, looked first at Ziva - who looked back him tight-lipped, and managed a small shrug. Forgetting his grudge he glanced over at McGee, but he was unable to answer. His jaw was clenched shut and he was slowly turning a very sickly shade of green. Tony said a mini prayer and hoped they reached their destination soon. Gibbs' grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. His teeth ground together, as the car squealed in protest. He spotted the dinner, and the abandoned jeep in front of it. He slammed his foot on the brakes, and the car stuttered to an abrupt halt, causing it's passengers to jerk forward.

They clambered out of the car as five single gunshots rang out, echoing throughout the desert. The agents grabbed their guns, and Gibbs motioned for Ziva and McGee to head round the back of the building. He stalked quickly up to the front door, barely aware that Dinozzo was right behind him. The door was slightly ajar. Gibbs shoved it open with his foot and moved inside, the smell of blood instantly assaulting his nostrils. Glancing quickly around the room, he saw only one man still standing. His stomach in his throat, Gibbs called out, "NCIS. Drop your weapon."

"Drop your gun." Gibbs stopped in shock as Mike turned to face him, and even in the dying light he could see the regret in his mentor's eyes. The man shook his head. "I'm sorry Probie, so damn sorry."

Gibbs looked over at Ziva and McGee, who were standing by the back door, their faces pale, shock written over their features. He glanced down, past Mike's feet, and that's when he saw her. Lying bloodstained and lifeless. He looked up at Mike, his voice sticking in his throat.

In response to the unasked question, Mike shook his head.

"Dunno, was about to check."

Gibbs moved forward and dropped to his knees beside her; his arm reaching out almost of its own volition. As he he pressed his fingers to her throat his eyes settled on Jenny's face. On the smear of blood streaked across her face. For a second he didn't feel anything, but then he felt it. A small flutter. It was faint but steady.

"Call an ambulance."

* * *

**xxx**


	12. Chapter 12

Gibbs glanced around the empty waiting room; the ticking of the clock echoed around the room, bouncing off the walls. He rubbed tiredly at his eyes, the events of the day beginning to take their toll as the adrenaline rush that had gotten him through so far wore off. He had never expected to fail. The thought had lurked in the back of his mind, but he had always thought he would get there in time. He closed his eyes as his head fell back against the wall behind him. The time spent waiting for the air ambulance had felt like hours, and Jenny hadn't stirred once. He'd never known her to be so still. Even when she slept she tossed and turned, muttering incoherently. It was her stillness that had terrified him, even more than the blood that surrounded her. The image of her just lying there refused to leave his head.

The door clicked open, and Gibbs's head flew up as he jumped to his feet; his muscles relaxing slightly as Mike walked into the room, a cup of coffee gripped in each hand. He jerkily reached one arm out, offering one to Gibbs.

"Thought you could use this."

Nodding, Gibbs took it. As he sat back down his tense muscles screamed in protest. He took a gulp of the scalding liquid and grimaced at the weak, tasteless beverage. He shot a questioning glance in Mike's direction, and the older man shrugged.

"They don't do designer coffee in hospitals." But the slightly amused look on his face drifted away to be replaced with one of concern. He opened his mouth but Gibbs got in there before him.

"You process the crime scene?"

"Yeah. Bodies are on their way to D.C."

"My team?"

"Still here. They're just outside. Didn't think you'd want them in here."

"Right," Gibbs bit out. Words couldn't even begin to describe how angry he was. How disappointed in his two senior agents he felt. They had been given a job and they had let personal feelings impact it. They had let their guard down. Jenny may have been fobbing them off, but he had trained them never to accept excuses. He thought they would have known better.

Mike cleared his throat awkwardly, his eyes sliding over to his former probie. "How is she?"

"Still in surgery."

"Her chances?"

Gibbs shrugged, his eyes downcast. "I don't know. I'm not family so they won't tell me anything."

"You tell 'em this is an attempted murder?"

"Yeah. They said they'd let me know if there's any change in her condition." Gibbs sipped at his coffee again, steeling himself to ask the question that had been bouncing around his head for the past two hours. "What were you doing there?"

"She called me. Said she needed my help."

"She tell you why?"

"Not until I got here. She said it was to do with an old case of yours. One from Europe."

Gibbs scrubbed his hand over his chin, putting into words what deep down he had already known. "Paris."

Mike nodded. "Looks like Decker screwed the pooch."

"Always thought that case would come back to bite us. She tell you anything else?"

"That she was next on the hit list." Mike kept his gaze fixed on Gibbs for his next sentence. "She was trying to make sure he never got to you. She was trying to save you."

Gibbs swallowed heavily, and his heartbeat seemed to thud in his ears as he rested his head in his hands.

"She wanted me to leave her there. Wanted to face them off alone. Give me time to get to you, to warn you."

Gibbs shook his head. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear how another woman had thrown herself in harm's way to save him, especially not Jenny. The guilt when Kate had died had threatened to swallow him whole and he didn't want to relive that with Jenny.

"She shouldn't have……she should have told me." He met Mike's eyes. "_You_ should've told me."

"If I had done that she would have run off. It was better that she had some form of back-up." Mike gave a wry, humourless laugh. "You always said she was stubborn. That she always thought she knew what was best."

"Yeah."

"Wonder where she learned that trait."

Gibbs frowned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"In Mexico, you said that you regretted the way things had turned out between you."

"I did. Still do."

"But you didn't do anything about it."

Gibbs felt his patience begin to fray, his voice terse he replied, "it was complicated."

"These things are only as complicated as you choose to make them." Mike scratched at his chin, placing his coffee cup on the side table that separated himself and Gibbs. "That woman has a lot of regrets, lot o' them are the same as the ones you have."

He stayed silent, didn't want to admit that he had seen it. But that she had angered him so much with her constant secret keeping that he had turned away, rather than attempt to chip away at the walls that surrounded her. "It works both ways, she could have came to me."

"She seems convinced you didn't want her, that you wouldn't forgive her."

A hiss of breath escaped from between Gibbs's lips, as he flashed back to the night he had visited her at home, the look of hope in her eyes when she hinted that she wanted him to stay. The brief flash of hurt that flashed across them when he turned her down. He hadn't meant that he didn't want her, but Hollis had just left. His mind was already in chaos without adding to it. He had always meant to make it up to her, but fate had conspired to make that nearly impossible. "I'd forgive her," he muttered. "Forgave her three years ago."

"Did you tell her that?" At Gibbs's face, Mike shook his head in mild despair. "Thought not. Probie, what's it gonna to take for you to do something? I saw the look on your face in that diner, it's the same look you had seventeen years ago. Take the chance. While you still have it."

At that, Gibbs's gut went off. "She's sick, isn't she?"

Mike looked at him in surprise. "You know."

"Had a feeling about it. She told me she wasn't."

"Thought you were a human lie detector," Mike joked mildly.

"Think we both wanted it to be the truth so badly that she didn't have her usual tell. Or if she did I didn't want to see it." He met Mike's eyes. "How bad is it?"

"Not fatal. Don't know anything more than that."

Gibbs nodded, taking another gulp of his coffee. It hadn't been what he wanted to hear, but neither was it the news he had feared. Wanting to move away from the subject now, he asked, "the team still outside?"

"They better be," Mike growled. "What you planning to do with them?"

Gibbs gave a small bitter chuckle, "Vance called about an hour ago. Said after they processed the crime scene they were to come back here and provide security until Jenny's usual detail arrives. He's on his way as well."

"You going to let them be security?"

Gibbs gave him an incredulous look. "What do you think?"

"You're going to need to go out there and talk to them."

"Yeah." Gibbs agreed, staying in his seat.  


* * *

Tony shifted in the hard plastic seat across from the nurse's station, he glanced over at Ziva, who in turn was staring at the floor. "I should have listened to you, you wanted to go find her. This is my fault."

Ziva shook her head, "I should have made you listen, I did not exactly try to convince you, did I? This is as much my fault."

"You think she'll be OK?"

Ziva thought back over her time in Cairo with Jenny. The way the red-head had stubbornly carried on with injuries that would have had other agents confined to a desk, or on leave. "If anyone can make it through it is her," she declared firmly. She snuck a glance at Tony, "What do you think Gibbs will do to us?"

Tony shuddered. "Don't really want to think about it."

Ziva was about to reply when McGee ambled around the corner, and slumped into the chair between his colleagues. "Just got off the phone with Abby."

"How is she?" asked Ziva.

"Hysterical. She wanted to fly out, but she's been ordered to stay and process the evidence."

"And Ducky?"

"Has to start the Autopsies the minute the bodies arrive. He's promised to keep an eye on Abby as well. He seemed a bit shaken, asked that Gibbs phone him when he gets any more news." McGee looked around their surroundings. "Have you seen him yet?"

"Given that we're still in one piece, I think it's safe to say we haven't," Tony snapped.

McGee stayed quiet, knowing that what had taken place was weighing heavily on Tony's mind. He knew that if it was him in this position that the guilt would be killing him.

They all looked up as the door to the private waiting room opened, and Gibbs and Franks stepped out. Tony and Ziva sat back in their seats, eyes fixed on the floor in front of them. Gibbs didn't even look at his 'senior' agents, but turned instead to McGee. "Everything go smoothly at the scene?"

"Yes Boss. Everything we bagged and tagged is on its way back to D.C. with the bodies."

"You speak to Abby?"

McGee nodded, "Ducky asked that you phone him when you hear anything."

"Good job, McGee."

The young agent was torn between the urge to beam at this rare praise, or cringe at the way Tony and Ziva were being blocked out. He finally managed a weak smile.

Franks sat down in the vacant seat next to Tony, while Gibbs made his way over to the coffee machine in the corner. When he returned he sat down next to Franks, not once uttering a word to his agents, who sat in an awkward silence. After what felt like hours, a small, portly man in green scrubs made his way around the corner. He paused at the nurse's station. The team watched as the nurse in charge inclined her head in their direction. Gibbs was on his feet in seconds. So quickly that he met the man halfway. The man blinked up at him.

"Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs gave a small nod. The man offered him his hand.

"Dr Watson. I was the surgeon who operated on Director Sheppard-"

"How is she?" Gibbs interrupted.

"At the moment stable. There were a few complications in theatre. She lost a great deal of blood before we even got her onto the table and this resulted in her suffering a cardiac arrest. We got her back, but it was touch and go for a while. We had to repair a large tear in her liver, as well to a small tear to one of her kidneys. We also removed the bullet from both her right shoulder and left thigh-"

"Will she be OK?" Gibbs interupted, his nerves frazzled

The surgeon managed a small smile. "We have no reason to believe that she shouldn't make a full recovery. For the moment we're giving her another blood transfusion, and she will need intensive physiotherapy to recover the strength in both her leg and her shoulder. Although her existing condition will make the road ahead more difficult, it is by no means an impossible task. For now we've moved her into a private room just off of the corridor. She's heavily anaesthetised and will probably sleep through the rest of the night. However, I see no reason why you and your colleagues can't see her, if you so wish."

Gibbs nodded, and watched as the man turned to leave. Stepping forward, Gibbs's movement caused the man to pause in his exit. Gibbs gave him a small smile of gratitude. "Thank you."

"Not a problem."

Gibbs walked slowly back to the group, a weight having lifted off of his shoulders. As he drew closer to them, Franks got to his feet. Gibbs focussed his attentions on both his former mentor and McGee. "She's going to be fine, they think she'll make a full recovery. McGee, phone Ducky and Abby. Let 'em know."

McGee smiled and nodded, rushing off to find a quiet spot. Gibbs looked over at his other two agents, noting that their relief was palpable. He knew he had to talk to them both, he knew that Jenny would have been persuasive, but that didn't excuse the way they had acted. Everything was just too raw and he was still too angry to forgive and forget. He turned, motioning for Mike to follow him. When they were out of earshot, Mike asked, "What now?"

"I'm going to see Jenny, and then I'm going to finish this."

"You're not planning to do something stupid, are you?"

"No," Gibbs shook his head, "just planning to tie up some loose ends."

"And you expect me to just sit back and let you go."

"I need someone here, to watch Jenny. Until he's dead she's still in danger."

"You have three other agents here."

"Two of which have already screwed up," Gibbs snapped. He swallowed heavily, and tore his gaze away from Mike's, he took a deep breath. The next words wouldn't come easily, they were like an admission of how he really felt, of how deeply this had really affected him, "I need to know she's safe, and I know you won't let any harm come to her."

The older man nodded, knowing that this was a much larger issue to Gibbs than actually killing this Nikolai. "It's about time you tied up them loose ends anyway," he added gruffly. "You two almost have enough to hang yourselves with."

Gibbs gave a small smile as he inclined his head towards the door. "I won't be long."

"Get it done, probie."

Gibbs stepped inside the small, almost airless room, and his eyes drifted to the figure on the bed. She was so ashen that she almost melted into the sheets. He moved closer to her. He had always known she was tiny, but the high heels and power suits sucked you in, until you forgot that she was flesh and blood and not the indestructible force she quite often came across as. His hand reached out to brush away a stray hair that had fallen across her cheek; his hand hovering above her until his nerve slipped at the last moment and his hand fell to hers instead. Gibbs slipped his hand under hers, his fingers gently enclosing her smaller and more delicate ones. The warmth from her hand seeped through him. He'd forgotten how good it felt to actually touch her. He liked to think that this way he was offering her at least some semblance of comfort and reassurance - although he was aware that it was really the opposite way round; that_ he_ needed the knowledge that she was still with him. He stroked his fingers across the smooth skin of the back of her hand, and in a low and gravelly voice he said, "I won't be long Jen. Just stay with us. You've got this far."

It was with great regret that he removed his hand, letting hers fall limply back to the bed. He turned away, he knew that this needed to be done, that it was for the best, but he still felt like the worst kind of bastard for leaving her here. For not being with her when she needed walked straight past Mike, calling back, "If you need any back-up, ask McGee."

* * *

**xxx**


	13. Chapter 13

The lock gave way easily. Gibbs glanced around the deserted street; checking one last time that no-one was watching him. He slipped inside the hallway, shutting the door silently behind him. He moved swiftly and silently throughout the house, his eyes narrowed as he attempted to see through the pitch blackness. Finally he found the room he wanted, and stepped inside. He made his way to the large wooden desk and flicked on the small table lamp; illuminating the room enough for him to see its contents. He sat back in the large leather chair, and waited. He had been an Agent long enough to know how the game of revenge was played. Had even played it himself - although it hadn't helped him - and he knew what the next step would be. Nikolai had hit the minor players. He may not have finished the job, but he was hardly going to hang around to finish Jenny off first. No, he was going to come after him - the one he had wanted all along.

Gibbs knew that Nikolai would be keeping a close eye on his movements, and knew that it was only a matter of time before he traced him here. He had no concerns that the man would send hired goons after him. He would want to take care of the man responsible for Svetlana's death personally, inadvertently giving Gibbs the upper hand.

He shuffled in the chair, leaning back. His eyes glanced over the items lying on Decker's desk, stalling on the photo of him and Sasha. Gibbs sighed. Two lives gone. Unnecessarily snuffed out. It was at times like these that he felt plagued by death. So many people he knew gone in an instant.  
His head snapped up as he heard the low, almost imperceptible creak of the front door. Gibbs drew his gun from his side, and levelled it at the doorway. Only a second passed until Nikolai stepped into the room.

The man in question merely raised an eyebrow at the gun currently pointed at him, and letting out a small chuckle he drawled, "not particularly happy to see me?"

"I wonder why," Gibbs replied. Sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Nikolai gave a small grunt of recognition, and made his way over to the drinks cabinet, pouring himself a large vodka. Seemingly unbothered by the gun still aimed at him. He took a gulp of the clear, burning liquid. "That business with Director Shepard was rather unfortunate. I heard she made it out alive," he remarked casually.

"Your men weren't quite up to scratch."

"Evidently," Nikolai muttered as he held out the decanter. "Drink?"

"I'll pass."

"You do not have to be quite so hostile Agent Gibbs. This is merely business. You and your team took something from me, and now you have to pay it back. With interest."

Gibbs's upper lip curled in disdain.

"Is that all she was to you? Business?"

Nikolai turned a hard look on him. "I do not like other people taking something from me. Svetlana was mine, and it was not your place to take her life. For that you must pay."

"And Agent Decker and Director Sheppard?"

"Were part of the effort that took her from me. Although I do admit to enjoying the slight irony where the lovely Director Sheppard was involved. As you Americans say, an eye for an eye. You took the woman I loved from me, and I had hoped to do the same to you. I would have enjoyed seeing the grief on your face. Enjoyed knowing you were going through the same torment that has plagued me for nine years."

Gibbs swallowed heavily. His gut clenched and his blood boiled as he heard Nikolai chat so casually about ending Jenny's life, but he refused to let it show. "Looks like you failed in _that _particular mission. "

"Yes." Nikolai gave a small nod, his hand reaching into his coat, languidly pulling out his own weapon of choice, resting the cold heavy metal in his hand, his finger flexing against the trigger. He looked up at Gibbs with what looked suspiciously like a smile playing across his face. "I suppose I will just have to go back and finish her off, I very much doubt that she'll be able to put up much of a fight second time around. And I'm sure that I will get the same satisfaction in telling her that her quest to save you failed miserably."

"You won't be going anywhere near her," Gibbs spat.

Nikolai raised his eyebrow in mock amusement. "In a few minutes you won't be in any position to stop me."

"Very sure of yourself."

"I am merely confident of my abilities. You have both failed. You failed to take me out in Paris, and you failed to save each other today."

"We're both still alive."

"Not for long." Nikolai raised his gun, smiling coldly.

The gunshot echoed throughout the room, cutting through the silence of the night. Nikolai's gun fell from his hand as he toppled backwards, his finger just a fraction too slow on the trigger. He hit the floor with a heavy thud. Gibbs pushed himself up from his chair, and kicked the gun on the floor out of the dying man's grasp. For a second he merely stood, watching Nikolai gasp his last, blood staining the carpet. Yet Gibbs couldn't find it in himself to feel remorse, his cold blue eyes met Nikolai's bulging eyes as he leaned over him and said, "never mistake arrogance for ability."  


* * *

The first thing Jenny felt was pain. She hadn't even opened her eyes, but already she could feel that her entire body ached with a dull throb. She wondered if she was alive. She must be, she thought. Surely being dead wasn't this unpleasant. Her mind flickered back over the events in the diner, the four men and the sharp pain as the bullets tore through her flesh. But it wasn't that memory that stood out first and foremost in her mind. She had thought she had heard Jethro, felt his hand in hers. Desperate to see him, she forced her heavy lids open, struggling to focus in the dazzling whiteness that surrounded her. Eventually her eyes focussed although her vision was still blurred around the edges.

Her eyes trailed over the room and she heard someone shuffle in movement. Her voice didn't sound like her own, her mouth forming the word, "Jethro?" even if though no sound escaped her. She followed the movement in her room, and let out a small sigh of disappointment as she saw Mike move to the side of her bed, his eyes creased in a mixture of concern and relief. Biting back her disappointment, she croaked weakly, "Made it out then."

"Yeah, you had us going for a bit though."

"Wanted to keep you on your toes."

Mike gave a small chuckle. "Just don't do it again."

"That an order?"

"You bet it is."

Jenny managed a small smile, as tiredness tugged at her, pulling her back into its grasp. The constant beeping of the machines attached to her seemed to help lull her to sleep, although the disappointment that he wasn't there still lurked in the back of her mind.

Mike watched as she gave into the tiredness that pulled at her. Watched as her face settled into a faint frown as she drifted off. When he had first approached her, he had thought he saw her ask for Probie, but he couldn't be sure. That and he didn't want to tell her that he had been here but that he had left to finish the job she had started, it would just panic her and she was weak enough as it was. His eyes flickered over her features once more, taking in the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest before stepping back. He turned to look out the room's window, into the corridor, catching sight of McGee standing dutifully by the door, guarding its occupant. The older man gave a small smile. The young one was a damned good agent. He wondered if he would have let Jenny slip off the grid in the same way the other two Agents had. He somehow didn't think he would have. He was too cautious.

Mike sighed and moved back to his chair in the far corner of the room, his knees creaking as he sat down. He knew he was getting older, knew that he had made a lot of mistakes in his life that he couldn't reverse no matter how hard he tried, how hard he wished. He just hoped that Probie wouldn't follow in his footsteps. That he would take this chance for happiness. After all today had proven you never knew when any day was going to be your last.  


* * *

Gibbs walked back into the hospital. The return had been a haze, and he remained lost in his own thoughts. As he reached the fourth floor, he saw Tony and Ziva sitting huddled together, the guilt over the night's events still evident in their features. He didn't acknowledge them. He didn't want to deal with them right now, and he couldn't absolve them. They were going to have to deal with this by themselves. As he approached Jenny's room he saw McGee standing guard outside. He tilted his head in way of a greeting, and McGee nodded back. Standing aside to let him through.

As he stepped inside he let out a small sigh of relief. Jenny had held on; was clearly still fighting. He met Mike's curious eyes, and managed to get in the first question. "How is she?"

"She's fine," Mike said as he got to his feet. "Woke up for a few minutes 'bout an hour ago. Think she was askin' for ya."

"You _think_?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow questionably.

"She was tired, wasn't very clear. Looked disappointed that it was just me here though."

"Well I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere," Gibbs declared firmly.

"Job done?"

"Yes. No more loose ends."

"The body?"

"Won't be a problem."

Mike nodded. Confident enough in Gibbs's abilities not to question him further about it. "What next?"

"You'll need to get out of here before Vance arrives."

Mike nodded knowingly. "Looks bad enough as it is." He slapped his hands off of his thighs. "Well I'm done here anyway, I trust I can leave Red in your capable hands." Mike gave an almost a tender smile in her direction, "You'll say my goodbyes?"

"Yeah."

"Take care of her, Probie. She's good for you."

He clapped Gibbs on the shoulder and the two men sharing a knowing smile. Mike's hand slipped down to his side, and with one last glance in Jenny's direction he headed towards the door. Slipping quickly and silently away.  


* * *

Just ten minutes later, Jenny's door opened, and Acting Director Vance swept in. Gibbs didn't even bother to stand up, merely glancing over at him from his chair next to Jenny's bed.

Vance scowled at the small sign of disrespect. "William Decker's house burnt to the ground just over an hour ago. Looks like a gas explosion. Know anything about that?"

"Should I?" Gibbs asked mildly.

"Don't play coy with me, Gibbs. It doesn't suit you. We both know that there was someone bigger behind the shooting today. I saw the photos Director Shepard sent to Abby, I know who was behind this. What would happen if they were to look for human remains in that house?"

"They won't bother, you know that. They have no reason to."

"That isn't the point."

"It was sanctioned."

"Nine years ago," Vance hissed.

Gibbs shrugged. "Better late than never."

Vance snorted out a gush of air through his widely flaring nostrils, reminding Gibbs of an annoyed horse. He knew he'd been had, that there was no course of action he could take, so like any good politician, he changed the subject. "Director Sheppard's normal detail will be taking over from here."

"Fine. McGee needs a break anyway."

"And you and your team are to come back with me to D.C. immediately."

Gibbs shook his head. "No, my team can go back to D.C. I will be staying here."

"That was not a request, Agent Gibbs."

"Don't care. I'm staying here. Might as well quit while you're ahead Leon."

Vance bristled, his gaze flittering over the picture before him. The way Gibbs's concerned gaze never left Jenny for more than a few seconds at a time, the way his hand rested beside hers. For a second, Vance stood and considered his options. Dragging Gibbs back to D.C. would likely cause him no end of problems. It just wasn't worth the headache it would cause. So he gave a small nod.

"Fine, you can stay. I'll have your team write up the report." That said, he left the room.

Gibbs stayed where he was, his hand moving to encase Jenny's. All that was left now was wait for her to wake up so that he could finally bring things out into the open.

* * *

**xxx**


	14. Chapter 14

Letting out a small sigh, Jenny opened her eyes. Blinking dazedly at the morning sun that was seeping in through the edges of the curtains. She frowned slightly as she took in the sight of Jethro asleep in the chair next to her bed; belatedly taking in the fact that her hand was in his. She wondered how long he'd been there. He couldn't possibly be comfortable slouched in a high-backed chair with his chin resting on his chest. Jenny's frown deepened as she took in the stubble decorating his chin, and the shadows that were easily apparent under his eyes.

He looked exhausted.

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to wriggle upwards into a sitting position. Sharp pain rocketed through her, and a gasp slipped past her lips before she could stop it.

Gibbs's eyes shot open, and he lurched forward in his seat, wild blue eyes meeting hers. "I'll get a doctor."

Jen tightened her grip on his hand, grinding out, "don't bother. It was stupid of me to think I would be able to do something as simple as sitting up."

Gibbs faltered; his position somewhere between sitting and standing, his eyes studying her. Finally he seemed to determine there was no need to rush out for medical help, and sank bank into his seat. Jen tried to ignore the fact that his hand was no longer touching hers, although she already sorely missed the small sign of comfort.

His voice gruff, he asked, "How you feelin'?"

"Fine." Her eyes flickered away.

"Your right eye just twitched."

Jen let out an irate sigh. She'd need to find a way to deal with that damn tell of hers. "I'm tired and sore," she bit out grudgingly.

"Not surprised. You need water."

"Please." Gibbs reached toward the jug on the bedside cabinet as Jen nodded.

The next few moments passed in silence. Jen sipped the cool liquid slowly, her actions hampered somewhat by the I.V. stuck into her one good arm, and the other one held tightly in a sling. Finally she knew it was time to meet Jethro's eye.

He was still watching her.

Clearing her throat, she asked, "How long have you been here?"

"In this room, or in L.A.?"

"Do they not have the same answer?"

"No, Jen, they don't."

She swallowed heavily, slightly un-nerved by the edge to his voice. But forcing her voice to remain steady, she said, "fine. Let's start with how long you've been in L.A."

"Landed at 1500 hours."

Jenny raised an eybrow at him. "You've been here since yesterday afternoon."

She knew him well enough to know that he was annoyed. More than annoyed he was furious. His voice was low and unwavering, his eyes blazed, and his hands were shaking with barely repressed rage. She rubbed awkwardly at her forehead. Recent events had obviously taken their toll on her energy but she pulled herself together, if not entirely upright. Determined to see this through.

"I made a decision not to involve your team in the mission I undertook."

Gibbs let out an inelegant snort. "You went in without thinking, you left yourself vulnerable and damn near got yourself killed!"

"I had back-up," she replied calmly.

"Yeah, a retired agent. That's not back-up, Jen. You should have called me, not Mike."

She stayed silent, her eyes not straying from his once. Gibbs watched her, waiting for a reaction that just didn't seem to be forthcoming. Slowly, his fists slowly began to unclench. He was still angry, and couldn't remember the last time he'd been this close to losing control, but his anger wasn't getting him anywhere. Her barriers were clearly firmly in place. Swallowing compulsively he changed tack, and forcing his anger down, he tried again.

"The case with Nikolai involved me. You shoulda have told me, Jenny."

She was about to fire back when something more pressing dawned on her. Bringing with it a trace of panic. "Jethro, Nikolai wasn't at the diner, he's still out there, he-"

Gibbs held up his hand, silencing her "Nikolai is dead."

She looked at him for a few moments, finally asking, "Who pulled the trigger?"

"It wasn't Mike's battle to end."

"Good." Jenny sank back into her pillows, the last bit of energy draining out of her. Now it was truly over. She didn't have the energy to spar with him, and only the adrenaline had kept her going up until now.

But Gibbs wasn't finished. His voice took on a slightly hoarse quality as he asked, "Why, Jen?"

"Doesn't matter anymore."

"Yes, it does."

For a minute or so she didn't talk, didn't give even the slightest indication that she had even heard him. But finally she broke, and her voice was low as she told him, "I wanted to fix my mistake."

Gibbs frowned. "Nikolai was Decker's mistake."

"We both screwed up on that mission. If I had held up my end of the deal then Nikolai would never have gone after you."

"Yes he would have. He came after all of us."

Jenny shook her head. "Don't want to talk about this," she murmured.

"I was lead Agent," Gibbs persisted. "I should have verified the kill. We were all guilty."

Jenny's voice took on an edge, her teeth gritting together. "Drop it, Jethro."

Gibbs knew he should pull himself back. Knew that this wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want to get caught up in bitter recriminations. But he was angry with her for the way she'd so casually put her own life at risk.

"You were being selfish."

At that her eyes flashed, her lips pursed to together, and in a low, dangerous tone she asked, "Just how was I being selfish?"

"You went after Nikolai without a thought to anyone else."

"That's not true." Jenny's voice shook, despite her intentions. She couldn't believe he was accusing her of selfishness, of all the things he could choose from.

"Yes it is. You were only thinking about how this would affect you. Did you, at any point, think about what Tony and Ziva would go through if you'd died on their watch? Or how Abby would react to the news? Or Ducky? Did you take a moment to think about how it would feel for him to be the one who had to carry out your Autopsy -"

"That's enough!" Jen looked up at him, hurt clearly evident in her eyes, and he knew he'd pushed her too far. He tried to take her hand, tried to repair the damage, but she yanked it away.

"Get out."

"Jen -"

"Get. Out." It was repeated more firmly this time,and there was no trace of the tired injured woman from a few moments before.

"No."

"I'll have you removed," she growled at him.

"I'm not leaving," he repeated - and before she could reply he managed to look somewhat contrite, he looked up at her. " I .. shouldn't have said what I did. When I saw you lying in that diner, I thought -" He shook his head, unable to even say the words. "And then waiting for news while you were in surgery .. the hours dragged by and I couldn't do anything. I don't want to ever feel like that again, Jenny."

Jenny just stared at him, feeling like her tongue had glued itself to the roof of her mouth. She swallowed heavily before asking, "what are you saying, Jethro?"

Before he could answer, the door to Jenny's room opened and Doctor Watson strolled in, accompanied by what looked like two junior doctors. He gave Jenny a warm smile.

"Ah Director Sheppard, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Jenny tore her gaze away from Jethro, who was sitting back in his chair, his gaze flickering between Jenny and the doctor. She gave Dr. Watson a weak smile, "Like I've been hit by a truck."

"I'm not surprised," he commented as he flipped through her chart. He looked up and met her eyes, his gaze serious. "You are a very lucky woman, Ms Sheppard. It was touch and go for a while there, but it would appear that you're out of the woods, although you do have a long road of recovery ahead of you, and -"

"How long?" Gibbs interrupted.

The doctor looked down at his chart somewhat nervously, perturbed by the intense stares he was being given by both people. "Well it's going to be ten days before we remove your clips. After that you're going to require intensive physiotherapy, although you will have to wait six weeks for your wounds to adequately heal. Until then you're going to be rather restricted, movement wise. And of course your pre-existing condition will prolong your rehab period."

Jenny let out a low sigh, her head falling back against the pillow.

"Just give it to me straight. How long do you think it will take until I'm well enough to return to work."

"I would say you could possibly return to desk work in three months' time. Although that will depend on how you respond to your treatment. I also have to tell you that you may still require mobility aids for a few months afterwards."

Nodding, Jenny bit down on her lip. The full reality of her situation smacking her in the face. She had spent so long trying to get her strength back during her 'sabbatical' and now she was even further back than when she'd started. Blinking rapidly, she tried to contain her frustration, and was only just cognizant of Gibbs dismissing the doctor. "I think we need some time to take all of this in."

"Of course, I can come back and go through Director Sheppard's pain medication later."

Jenny closed her eyes as she heard her room door shut, and she felt rather than saw Gibbs sit down next to her. After a few moments she felt more composed, and opened her eyes to find herself staring at a rather grim looking Gibbs.

"Jen?" There was a tenderness in his voice that reminded her of the old days.

"I'm fine, Jethro." She shot him a weak smile. "It is what it is."

He gave a brief nod, fighting back the urge to take her hand in his again and assure her that everything would be fine. Instead he decided that it was time to bite the bullet, and asked, " this pre-existing condition?"

Jenny's eyes seemed to dim further, her fingers shifting restlessly against the bed sheet as she replied, "you've been talking to Mike."

"Yeah."

"How much did he tell you?"

"Just said it wasn't fatal." Gibbs looked up at her, and a tight vice seemed to grip around his chest as he asked, "it's not, is it?"

Shaking her head, Jenny reassured him, "No, it's not fatal."

"Good." Eyeing her carefully, watching her for signs of distress, Gibbs continued, "You going to tell me what it is?"

"Don't suppose I've got anything to lose now," Jenny joked weakly before her mouth set into a thin line. "I have Polymyositis." At Gibbs' blank look, she continued, "it causes progressive muscle weakness. Mainly in the shoulders and hips, but in serious cases it can affect the heart and lungs. Thankfully mine has not been severe. So far."

"So far?"

"I'm on medication to stop its progression, and I've been doing physiotherapy to regain the strength in my muscles. Hopefully the medication will continue to work, but it could flare up at any time and it's really just luck when it comes to finding a medication regime that can control it."

"When did you find out you had this, Jen?"

"I found out for sure a few months ago. I'd had some problems for a few months before that though," Jenny replied, not really wanting to go in depth about the aching muscles that had plagued her for months; gradually getting worse until even the simple task of getting to her feet had had her gritting her teeth in pain.

"So that time you took off, after the Frog debacle…"

"The drugs I was on were working, but I had to have physiotherapy to regain the strength I'd lost in my muscles."

Gibbs sat back in his chair, feeling shaken. He'd known something was wrong but he hadn't wanted to face it. Hadn't wanted to admit that maybe she wasn't as indestructible as she made out. Not only that, but guilt clawed at him. She'd gone through all this alone and he should have been there for her. He'd failed her. It was as simple as that. Trying to keep his voice steady, he asked, "When I asked you, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you didn't need to know," Jenny said softly.

"You shouldn't have gone through that alone."

"Like it or not Jethro, I am alone," Jenny replied, although there was no trace of self pity in her voice. She was only stating a fact.

"No you're not. You have me, I would have been there for you."

"I didn't want your pity."

"You wouldn't have got any."

Jenny looked at him incredulously. "Jethro, I knew that if I told you then you would stand by me. But I don't want you to spend time with me because your inbuilt code of honour won't let you walk away."

"I would have spent time with you because I wanted to, because I wanted to be there. Don't want you to deal with this on your own. It's got nothing to do with any code of honour." He spat out the words as if they had a bad taste. "We're too old to have any more regrets, Jen."

Jenny stared straight back at him. "When I asked you to stay, you said no. This is a reaction to my being ill."

"No it's not."

"You turned me down."

"You did the same to me first day you came back."

"That was different."

"Why?"

Jenny stared at him as though he'd gone mad. "You know why. It was my first day as the first female Director of an armed federal agency. How would it have looked if one of the first things I did was start up a relationship with one of my lead Agents?"

"So I didn't have the best timing. Neither did you."

"I know." He'd recently broken up with Hollis on the night she'd asked him to stay. Still, he could have explained himself.

Gibbs met her gaze, and shrugged. " Always figured I'd get a chance to make it up to you. He moved his hand, entwining his fingers with hers, all the time keeping his eyes on hers.

Shaking her head, Jenny replied, "It's not as simple as that anymore."

"Was never simple in the first place."

"No, it wasn't. But now it's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to have to rely on you." She watched as Gibbs' brow creases in bewilderment. "We were always equals, Jethro. It was why we worked. I'm going to spend months in physiotherapy, I'm going to be exhausted. And unbearable. I don't want that to be what defines us."

"It won't."

"We might not want it to, but that's what you'll focus on, and we both know that."

Gibbs brought his hand up to her cheek, his thumb grazing along her cheekbone. "I'm not walking away, Jen."

"I don't want it like this, Jethro," she said as she angled her face towards his fingers. "If we're going to do this then you are going to have to wait. I'm not going into this until I'm back on my feet." She shook her head when he tried to interrupt. "We've waited nine years, we can wait a few more months."

Gibbs gave a terse nod, "I'll wait, but after that no more excuses."

Jenny smiled, her eyes lighting up in a way that Gibbs hadn't seen for months.

"No more excuses," she assured him.

* * *

**Author's Note: I can only apologise for the long, long delay in this story. So for those who have stuck with it thank you :) And you'll be pleased to know that it's just the epilogue left and I'm determined to have that up by this time next week.**

**I also want to thank _4sweetdreams_ at this point. When I asked her to come up with diseases Jenny could have she came up trumps. Also thank you to _Elflordsmistress_ because without her this would be languishing on my hard-drive, she gave me some much needed kicking in regards to this story.**

**And now one last thing, _Elflordsmistress _and I have a collabaration coming up. It's going to be crack fic! With a supernatural/vampire twist and should be hitting your screens by the beginning of Febuary. As it is a collabaration then updates will not be anymore than once a week, but other than that I hope you decide to read it and hope that you enjoy it.**

**Till the epilogue**

**xxx**


	15. Epilogue

**This chapter is rated M. I'm giving you fair warning.**

* * *

**6 Months later**

Tapping his fingers impatiently on the desk, Gibbs glanced at the time displayed on his computer screen. Noting that it was just after six. His eyes moved over to where his team were sitting, each engrossed in their own little world.

"You finished writing up?" Their heads snapped up in unison.

Tony let the pen he'd been clicking against his mouth drop to the desk. "Um, yeah it's done," he replied nervously.

Gibbs gave a brief nod. "Then go home."

The team exchanged glances, quickly decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed, and gathered their coats; McGee and Ziva scurrying quickly towards the elevator without pause. Tony, however, slowly shrugged his coat on. Continuing to eye Gibbs warily as the man in question turned his attention back to the papers on his desk.

He could feel the younger Agent's eyes boring into him, as they had done for the past few months. He knew that Tony still didn't feel as though his mistake six months back had been completely forgiven, but equally Gibbs knew that nothing he could ever say would fully assuage that guilt. The only positives were that Jenny had recovered, and that neither Tony or Ziva would ever let themselves slip up on a protection detail again. Both realising that they would never be able to live with the consequences.

A small cough from Tony's direction made Gibbs look up again. Tony gave a weak smile. "We're going for a drink. All of us. Ducky and Abby too. If you wanted to join us .."

"Busy."

"Right." Tony gave a small nod, looking longingly in the direction of Ziva and McGee standing next to the elevators, waiting for him. "Shouldn't keep them waiting."

As he turned to head in the direction of the elevators, Gibbs's voice stopped him.

"DiNozzo."

Tony looked back, his voice hopeful he replied, "Yeah Boss?"

"Have a good weekend."

The younger agent's shoulders visibly relaxed and a small smile crept across his face. Things were still slightly strained between him, Ziva and Gibbs but slowly they were beginning to improve. "Thanks Boss."

Gibbs watched him go, watched his team laugh as they headed into the elevator. He waited until the steel doors slid shut before pushing the paperwork aside and grabbing his jacket. Taking the stairs two at the time as he moved swiftly in the direction of Jenny's office.

The outer office was dark and gloomy, Cynthia having already left for the day. Which also made it possible for Gibbs to get into the office without interruption. He stalked into Jenny's office, shutting the heavy door and leaning against it. Watching as she looked up from her desk. She flashed him an easy smile and took her glasses off, folding them neatly beside her.

"Need something, Jethro?"

He moved forward, lifting her coat from the rack and looping it over his arm. "We're leaving."

Jenny gave a small laugh and shook her head slightly. "Are we?" She asked, thoroughly amused. "And just where are we going?"

"How did physiotherapy go today?"

A minute frown flittered across Jenny's face for a second before comprehension quickly dawned. "I've been discharged from their care, but," she added with a smirk. "you already knew that, didn't you?"

Gibbs smirked back at her held out her coat. "Come on."

She leaned back in her seat. "Where are we going?" She repeated easily.

"I'm taking you for dinner to celebrate," Gibbs finally replied.

Jenny pushed herself to her feet, and moved fluidly towards him. Taking the proffered coat from him and letting him help her slide it up her arms. Smiling when his fingers brushed the side of her jaw. She pulled her jacket straight and began to button it up as she spoke, "See how much simpler things are when you answer the question." He didn't reply, instead his hand slipped to the curve in her lower back and he ushered her towards the door, hitting the lights on his way out.

"So your place or mine?" Jenny asked as they headed towards the stairs.

"Palena."

Jenny's smile grew. "You're taking me _out_?"

"Uh huh."

"Didn't think you were into those 'rubber chicken' dinners," Jenny teased.

"Just thought I'd do something nice for my former partner," he said with a grin.

* * *

They chatted amicably through their meal. The tension that had haunted their relationship in the months before LA long forgotten, and the ease they'd had in the past was back. Allowing them both to relax.

After dinner they drove back to Jenny's townhouse and Gibbs fell into step behind her, watching her walk. He'd always enjoyed watching her because she'd always moved so elegantly, but now it had extra meaning. He'd watched over the past six months as she'd struggled to walk, and in the beginning even to stand. On the rare occasions she'd allowed him to drive her to and from her appointments, he'd seen the glimmers of frustration on her face and known that a lesser person would have given up, accepted their restrictions or spent at least twice the time getting to the stage Jenny had tirelessly pushed herself to reach. She'd stuck firm to her statement that they wouldn't start anything until she was well, but at the same time had been careful not shut him out. Although he'd been aware that she'd wanted him there just as much as he'd wanted to be there, he was careful to allow her space. To make it clear that he was waiting - just as she'd asked him to.

As Jenny pulled her keys out of her bag to unlock the front door, he moved up to her. His arms wrapping around her waist, his lips pressing a light kiss against her temple.

He could sense her smile as she told him, "Jethro, I need to open the door." The key suddenly sliding easily into the lock just as the words left her mouth.

"No more excuses, Jen."

She tugged the door handle and they both stumbled into her hallway. Jenny turned in his arms, her fingers deftly curving into the lapels of his jacket; steadying herself. "No more excuses," she echoed. One hand trailed steadily upwards curling around the nape of his neck, fingers toying with the short hair there.

His hand moved from her waist. Cupping her arm gently, he angled it slightly and turning his head he placed a small kiss to the sensitive skin of her inner wrist, smirking at her soft inhale of breath. He caught her gaze, watched as her green eyes darkened considerably and knew that his were having the same reaction. He brought his mouth to hers, brushing his lips against hers in a feather light caress. Gratified when she deepened the kiss; his lips parting under the pressure exerted by her. His other hand curving around her hipbone and pulling it into him as he felt her moan against him. Briefly breaking the kiss, Jenny leaned her forehead against his, breathing harshly as she kicked off her heels.

"Upstairs, Jethro."

Gibbs nodded against her, catching her mouth again he backed towards the stairs, stumbling as the back of his ankles hit the bottom step. Beginning to feel vaguely like a desperate teenager again.

Eventually they reached the bedroom, although neither was really sure how they got there, and Jenny quickly pushed Gibbs's jacket off his shoulders, letting it hit the floor with a thud. He took a step back, swiftly removing his shoes and socks before pulling Jenny back to him again, his fingers briefly toying with the small buttons of her silk shirt before undoing them deftly and letting the material slide to the ground. At that he felt her actions pause, the hands that had been busy undoing his buttons faltering. He brought his mouth up from her collarbone and caught the apprehensive look that flickered across her face. He was just about to ask her what was wrong, when he trailed his hand up her side, his fingertip brushing along a slightly raised scar and saw her bite down on her bottom lip in response. Gibbs swallowed heavily, realising that the litany of scars she'd acquired was playing on her mind. He let his thumb idly caress the one on her stomach and lowered his mouth to the smaller one on her shoulder, the one that marked the bullet had torn through her flesh and pressed a kiss to it, feeling her begin to relax as he did until she'd fully leaned into his caress and restarted her pursuit in undoing his buttons, he unzipped her skirt and let it fall to a puddle on the floor. His shirt quickly joining it.

She ran the tips of her fingers down his chest to his belt, tugging on it, bringing his hips into closer contact with hers, revelling in the groan it prompted and cupping him through the fine material of his trousers, before undoing the buckle of his belt and shoving both his trousers and boxers to the floor. Turning them around, she backed him towards the bed and crawled over him, her knees on either side of his hips, her mouth seeking out his again. Gibbs hand's trailed up her sides, curving around her back until the reached the clasp of her bra, undoing it. Pulling it off he curved his hands round, catching her heavy breasts in his palms, rubbing his fingers over her hardened nipples. Smirking as she moaned, her lips briefly pausing in her exploration of his collarbone. Levering himself up on his elbows, he suckled one nipple into his mouth, angling his weight so that he could rub his fingers teasingly along the dampened material of her panties.

Jenny moaned and arched her back. Letting herself briefly enjoy the sensations coursing through her before knocking his elbow out, causing him to fall back on the bed so that she could continue her own pursuit.

Giving him a triumphant smirk, she trailed her mouth down his chest and abdomen, only pausing to briefly flick her tongue against his nipples before continuing. She skirted his erection, listening as his harsh breathing picked up pace as she did so. Turning her head she nuzzled one upper thigh briefly, her hand lazily caressing the other side, feeling him strain, trying to angle himself to where he most wanted her contact. She grinned against his skin, and continued to nuzzle the sensitive skin as her other hand trailed teasingly across his sac, her fingers caressing it mercilessly earning a choked moan in response. Keeping her hand in place, she moved her mouth to his base, glancing up in time to see his eyes fractionally and then ran her tongue up his pulsing length, pausing at the tip she met his eyes and lazily ran her tongue along the slit, her free hand lightly squeezing him as she did so, her other hand continuing it's slow tease. As she repeated the action she heard the hitch in his breathing and felt his fingers curl around her upper arms; insistently pulling her upwards until she was face to face with him.

Gibbs took some deep steadying breaths. it had been far too long and he wasn't sure he was up to her teasing. That and he was sure it was time to do some teasing of his own. He rolled her quickly, pinning her wrist above her head with one hand and using his other hand to tug off her last item of clothing. His mouth found the hollow of her throat as his thumb teased her clit and he slipped a finger into her wet heat, another one quickly joining it. She moaned loudly and her head fell to one side, her mouth open she gasped as her back arched and he continued his assault. She could feel herself hurtling towards the edge, but knew that this time she wanted him to fall apart with her. Her fingers curled as his lips found her jaw and she somehow managed to choke out, "Jethro, I want you."

His caress slowed before stopping. Feeling his fingers slid from her made her shudder and she arched her hips in a silent plea. Letting go of her wrists, he fitted his hand under her thigh and tilted her hips upwards before sliding inside her, his mouth seeking out hers as he did so. Her fingers curled around his biceps, her hips moving in rhythm with his, squeezing her inner muscles around him as he drew back, thrusting hard and deep.

Their eyes met, Jenny's hand curling into his, unable to form words she just moaned raggedly. He felt her muscles begin to flutter around him, and keeping his eyes fixed on hers thrust hard again, and felt the flutters change into spasms as she cried out, letting himself go, a harsh groan tore from the back of his throat as he toppled over the edge with her.

Eventually, once there breathing slowed and their heartbeats came back into normal ranges, Gibbs turned onto his side and pulled her into his chest, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

He could sense her smiling, and hearing the small satisfied sigh that escaped from her he knew that he wouldn't have anymore regrets when it came to them.

* * *

**a/n: And this story has finally FINALLY came to its conclusion :) So thank you to all those who have stuck with it. Once again thanks to Elflordsmistress for giving me a time limit and making me stick to it.**

**Now I want to take one last opportunity to shamelessly plug the fic that Elflordmistress and I shall be collabarating on and will appear on the site in the next few weeks. Yes the time for our Vamp fic draws closer and I hope you'll all decide to join us on this very definite Crack fic, we have big plans for this one :)**


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